Scent
by DoubleMMia
Summary: If there is one thing Aela cannot stand more than anything in this cursed world of Tamriel is how easy it is to fall for someone that is supposed to be your enemy. Vampire!F!Dragonborn/Aela, forbidden affection, femslash, werewolf/vampire.
1. The Abyss Of Tolerance

_**Scent  
>The Abyss of Tolerance<strong>_

If there is one thing that is almost enquiringly strange about Solitude is the fact that it doesn't have one faction of guards but two, the only difference being by whom these guards are actually run by; one faction by General Tullius himself and the other by Sybille Stentor herself.

Another thing that is curiously strange is that Sybille's faction of 'guards' contains a bare minimum of five people at most, a very large variance in number when compared to Tullius's faction and yet Elisif allowed her court wizard to run this faction with not even a blink of hesitation; which – considering the people you talk to anyhow – is a blessing and – again, depending on who you talk to – a curse.

The group consisted of Sybille herself, a noble woman turned warrior who had travelled from Morthal to Solitude named Alva, two lumberjacks named Hert and Herrn (most suspected them as twins) and a young Nord woman rumoured to be the Dragonborn; a group that had been formed so ridiculously and short-sightedly that most of Skyrim was surprised to find out soon enough that they were just as determined and resilient as the Companions were.

It also was no surprise that after Sybille's faction of 'The Asamites' was founded that an inexplicable tension had erupted between Whiterun's the Companions and Solitude's the Asamites, most thought it as though the two factions despised each other because of how much attention they were both receiving whilst others thought that it had to the issue of who was getting the most coin…

Whilst true on both counts, that was not even close to being the first part of the issue.

* * *

><p><strong><strong>"I don't trust this Kodlak," Vilkas voiced his opinion with a grunt, sitting down at the main table of Jorrvaskr with a frown on his face. "The Asamites at this table? It is a disgrace to Ysgramor!"

Aela didn't say anything but nodded in agreement from beside her shield-brother, eyes narrowed dangerously at the front doors of Jorrvaskr that the Asamites would soon be entering through once a courier informed the Companions of their arrival; a distasteful arrival it may be but Aela knew that if the Companions planned to talk with the Asamites then she herself would have to be there.

Kodlak placed a hand on both of hers and Vilkas's shoulders, stunning them both into silence as their Harbinger always did when it became perfectly clear that him and he alone was allowed to speak.

It was a restriction Aela still hadn't got used to when it came to the old man, so to say that she found it hard to still her tongue was an understatement even in these dire times.

"The leader of the Asamites is a respectable woman," Kodlak told them in that deep, sombre voice of his that echoed through the halls of Jorrvaskr with a power that made Aela's teeth clamp together and for her golden hues to flicker upwards to examine the chiselled old face of her Harbinger as he continued to speak. "This meeting is being held for a reason, so we can come to an agreement with one another and learn to live side-by-side without getting in each other's way."

"_They're vampires_." Farkas inputted with a snort, making his way up from the staircase along with Skjor with a frown on his face. "Ain't that enough reason not to having this meeting with them?"

Kodlak's face twisted into something that almost looked sad at Farkas's reaction and with a heavy sigh he pulled up a chair to sit in between both Aela and Vilkas.

"How can we be one to judge them? _**We**_ are beasts Farkas…" Kodlak whispered bitterly, eyes laced with regret so deep and interwoven into his very soul that for a second Aela forgot he was her Harbinger and instead she was looking at a very old, acrimonious man.

Aela met Skjor's eyes over the table with a familiar understanding that made her settle more comfortingly into her seat and helped her withhold her tongue on the matter of Hircine's gift (a _gift_, not a curse), because while it was a matter she and Kodlak had discussed time and time again it was not the time or place to bring it up now.

So she cleared her throat, loud and clear, to gather the rest of the Circle's attention with a small smirk creeping onto her lips; if this meeting was to take place then she would damn well be sure to put her opinion in and Hircine smite whoever dared speak over her.

"The Asamites have endangered our food supply, stolen our contracts and have the rumoured Dragonborn on their side who is _also_ a vampire," Aela started off with her fingers coming upwards to cup the curve of her jaw, shifting on her seat to rest her elbow on the arm of the chair until it felt as though everyone's attention in the room was finally focused on her and her alone. "How do you expect us to get along with one another when they do that? The idea of stalemate between the two factions is ridiculous."

"I agree with Aela, we should just wipe them out and save us the hassle!" Farkas said with an eager nod at her statement, rising up slightly from his seat with his fingers curled tightly around the tin of his mug at the tension that had managed to seep into the mead hall.

Vilkas held up a hand to silence his brother, slowly bringing said hand down to shake Farkas's shoulder gently.

"Brother trust in me when I say that war against the Asamites are not the thing we need," Vilkas told his brother with a fond shake of his head, pleased that Farkas was becoming more and more approachable and talkative in the Circle's meetings but not wishing to hear _these_ sort of ideas off his brother all the same.

Kodlak actually looked relieved at Vilkas's interruption, scraping a hand across his face to soften his flabbergasted sigh before he looked round again at the Circle with his lower lip trapped underneath his teeth.

"We do not need to come to blows with the Asamites," he explained slowly with warm, hazelnut eyes scanning each and every face. "When they arrive here we are requesting a treaty that will grant us peace between our two factions, for those who do not wish this peace then you are free to leave this hall and everything it stands for."

Aela would have if it hadn't been for the fact that not only would she the only woman of her family to be booted out of the Companions but that despite how she disliked Kodlak's methods of peace at times, she was still fond of the Harbinger in general and would follow him to the end of Tamriel if that was what was needed of her.

Farkas shifted uncomfortably beside her whilst Skjor merely stared down at his clenched fists, both of them a sickening sight in comparison to Vilkas's calm stature and demeanour and while she was not quite sure herself Aela assumed that she looked fairly at peace as well.

Before Kodlak could continue the doors of Jorrvaskr burst open, revealing an out of breath courier followed closely by the sounds of multiple footsteps that were precise and heavy from what Aela's seamless hearing could tell; the sound of the Asamites.

"They're here…" The courier whimpered weakly before he turned tail and ran, stumbling down the steps with his blonde mane of hair flowing behind him.  
>Instinctively the Circle stood up at the arrival of the Asamites, bowing their heads lowly in respect (though Aela had to stomp on Farkas's foot when the younger pup looked like he was going to resist) until the heavy footfalls had stopped and the warm breeze of Whiterun had been enclosed off by strong wooden doors.<p>

Aela quickly raked her eyes over the people (_vampires_) before them with distaste that caused her lips to curl and for a glint of suspicion to be engraved into her bright, amber hues; this meeting was not her idea and she would not let these vampires think that Kodlak's trust meant that they would have to be friendly with one another.

The two that stood out immediately were Hert and Herrn with their smug expressions and the way Hert's smile seemed to become wider each time her crimson hues passed over the bowed heads of the Circle, taking in their docile appearances and letting it feed the ego that Aela didn't doubt Hert already possessed.

Anger grew like ivy inside of her, twisted and gnarled, but still Aela held it in because soon enough she would be on a contract and would be able to beat someone until they were a bloody pulp with claws as well as knives.

"It's you!" Came a voice from beside her, the sound causing her body to stiffen whilst her mind sharpened and her eyes gazed to the side to see that both Vilkas and Farkas were staring angrily at the nonchalant-looking Herrn. "You were the one who stole the shipments a few weeks back! It was you!"

Aela's head snapped up to stare at the shell-shocked brothers, growling fiercely at the two of them until they both backed down with their hands clenched into fists at their sides.

"This isn't the time for trivialities you ridiculous thaw-heads," she warned under her breath, staring accusingly at the rest of the Asamites. "We'll discuss this later with them, for now shut up."

Sybille Stentor seemed to have realised what she said because she did not mention anything more on the subject, instead she sat down on the nearest possible chair with her hand twisting the golden thread of her navy blue hood; a look on her face that clearly said she was going to be taking over this discussion very, very quickly.

Kodlak gestured for them all to sit down before he started speaking once more. "It's a pleasure to have you here Sybille, though I admit I didn't think you would bring all of your faction with you."

Sybille laughed humourlessly with her hand coming upwards to gesture at the newest member (Aela presumed it was the Dragonborn that the gossips of Whiterun had talked about) of the faction to step forward besides her with dark, red eyes examining them as though it was a test and not the treaty of peace Kodlak and (apparently) Sybille had hoped for.

"Please Kodlak do not think me a fool," Sybille's voice was well-spoken and didn't hold the usual clunky accent that all citizens from Solitude had, so it was a surprising if pleasant experience for Aela's ears to be able to understand what the leech was actually saying. "The only reason your pack of beasts aren't trying to claw my companions to death is because the one known as the Dragonborn is stood with me right now."

Said Dragonborn shifted uncomfortably at being addressed rather informally with a large number of eyes staring at her, namely Aela who refused to stare anywhere else but examine the pale skin of the Nord and how such snow white skin contrasted terribly with the ebony armour that rested on the blonde Nord's shoulders.

Skjor snorted loud enough that most of the attention drew onto his stiff form; however Aela continued to watch the Dragonborn with her eyes crinkled in amusement at seeing the sigh of relief coming from the young woman at the attention finally moving away from her.

Aela hid a satisfied smirk behind her hand at the preposterousness of it all, the Dragonborn was nothing more but a mere whelp - if a parasite could still be seen as one anyhow – not old enough to sink fresh fangs into tender flesh.

"The girl is a whelp," Skjor voiced Aela's thoughts as he usually did without himself even knowing he was doing so, it was one of the main reasons why Aela couldn't help but feel lighter and comfortable in his presence. "Lower us all you want but don't think we shall be insulted to be seen as lower than a girl who doesn't look like she can even hold a sword."

Vampires were known to be fast depending on their consummation of blood but Aela had only blinked once and the young girl both herself and Skjor had been ripping apart suddenly was up in Skjor's face, two swords pressed against the Adam's apple of the older warrior's neck with such strength that Aela knew very well that if Skjor even attempted to gulp then he would most likely slice his own neck open.

"Can't hold a sword eh? How about two?" The Dragonborn grinned down at him, blonde hair sullen in the darkness of Jorrvaskr and her grin stained a red colour that tinted the sharp canines of her teeth that were barely visible even when the blonde Nord exposed them threateningly at Skjor.

Normally the rest of the Circle would have already put the attacker down almost immediately at seeing said attacker put their own at risk, however Skjor's eyes told them to back down and they reluctantly did so with their hands still gripping tightly around their weapons.

Skjor chuckled and slammed the two blades down with a force that knocked the blonde girl off balance, causing her to stumble backwards and lose grip on her two blades that clattered noisily to the ground.

Neither of them moved, too enraptured with the intensity that each other's gaze held; a mesmerizing if slightly annoying sight.

"Scared girl?" Skjor asked with a tone that was surprising considerate despite the expressionless look on his face.

"Not of you old man," the Dragonborn shot back with a determined glint igniting in her cerulean orbs and a straightened back that made Aela wince slightly at the vampire's strange stature. "You going to keep talking about me like a true milk-drinker or are you going to shut up and let the meeting carry on?"  
>Skjor regarded the Dragonborn with a smile at her angry words, looking almost amused at the rage that made her face crease in fury and caused her words to become quicker and more savage.<p>

He bent down to retrieve the two ebony swords that had fallen from the Dragonborn's hands, offering them to her with a nod of his head that Aela took as a sign of Skjor respecting the younger woman enough that he would no longer say anything of the matter.

"If you're quite finished with assessing my newest member Kodlak," Sybille spoke out all of a sudden, drawing Aela's attention away from the vampire of golden tresses and Skjor to watch the hooded woman tap out a rhyme against the hard table of the wood. "I want to know if you plan to keep your nose out of our business."

Kodlak rubbed at his chin at the vampire's words, moving from his chair to start to pace up and down the hall of Jorrvaskr until he came to a side table that he leaned on for support – another sign that the old man was becoming more and more weary as the years passed.

"I am perfectly aware that you wish for us to keep out of your business," Kodlak told Sybille and the rest of the Asamites from over his shoulder, his eyes a canvas of strength despite the weakening form of his body. "But I cannot do this without your own promise that you too will keep your faction out of the Companion's personal business; two weeks ago you stole a shipment that was given to us by the Forsworn near Markath. How can you possibly explain that?

"The Forsworn are enemies to Faolan," the dark-haired woman next to the blonde Nord piped up, cerise hues narrowing dangerously when Aela let her own eyes roam the scarred face of the whelp she figured to be Faolan. "You think we would go so far just to interrupt a shipping for you? Maybe your brutish natures are getting the better of you."

Aela withheld a growl that she was sure would have made the sound shake; not willing to prove or come close to proving the dark-haired leech right.  
>"Alva," Sybille warned the curt leech that had spoken with a wave of her hand, gesturing for her to back down. "Come to your senses girl. Kodlak has every right to be upset about his shipment going missing, in fact to make up for it…"<p>

Herrn stepped forward to present three sacks of what sounded like gold, throwing them on the broad table in the drinking hall with a smirk that Aela didn't like or particularly trust.

Her shield-brother Farkas looked at the gold in distaste. "What? You trying to bribe us or something?"

Kodlak stepped in then, squeezing Farkas's shoulder briefly before acknowledging Sybille with a nod of his head. "The Circle thanks your patronage Sybille however there is still the matter of our treaty. Do you swear an oath not to meddle with our affairs again?"

The silence that followed is deafening but it is also a clear signal that when the leader of this vampire faction actually answered then said answer would be absolute – no hesitation about it.

Sybille nodded briefly (drawing a sigh from Aela that the huntress hadn't even known she'd been holding) before lifting up a lone finger to silence the talks that had spilled out between the two factions.

"On one condition," the Breton said with her voice as sharp as Eorlund's blades and her tapping becoming more and more rapid until Aela could feel her ears thrum in tension and curiosity. "We meet up in Whiterun every two months to celebrate our new..._tolerability_ for one another."

Was that what they called it? Aela begged to differ and decided to voice it to herself by thinking thoughts that were particularly loud without being truly vocal.

So it went without saying that almost every member of the Circle looked up at Kodlak with different feelings overcoming themselves, mostly things such as _'by all of Talos say no'_ and _'if there is any decency left in the Companions…_' – which pretty much meant that Kodlak only had one answer that would truly satisfy them all.

"We agree on something at last Sybille," Kodlak jested with a smile that is tight and knowing; knowing that he is a doomed man once the faction of blood-suckers leave the 'sacred' halls of Jorrvaskr. "Your wish is granted and in good favour, you shall be seeing us shortly."

Aela remained silent for the rest of the meeting, refusing to meet anyone's gaze even when the Asamites finally left and only moving from her seat to watch as the vampires left her with her bright eyes glowering at the retreating group with the suspicion of the predator watching its prey come and leave.

She knew it would not be the last she would see of them.


	2. The Hunger

**Chapter 2: The Hunger**

* * *

><p><strong>A<strong>ela liked the hunt more than the actual feeding of raw deer flesh that filled her right up whenever it came to transforming into her lycanthrope form at the dead of night; the hunt was a game she loved and respected and desired more than anything in Skyrim and so when she and Skjor managed to hunt whenever they could it made her feel the most euphoric feeling in the world.

So words cannot describe how satisfied she feels that her next assignment with Skjor is to hunt a pack of ice wolves that had managed to kill a widow near one of Winterhold's many small lodges that were scattered along the road; not a truly challenging assignment she had to admit but it was most certainly enough to have Skjor come out and assist her with it.

It was why she and Skjor were trudging the icy paths towards Wolfskull cave where they had managed to track the ice wolves to with nothing with them apart from their weapons and armour, having lost their packs of food and water in a skirmish with a cult of necromancers near a daedric shrine.

"We'll be needing to get supplies in Windhelm on the way back to Whiterun," Skjor spoke up against the blistering cold that stung at the exposed skin Aela's armour didn't cover; his voice a temporary distraction that Aela strongly needed. "From then on we'll have to be more careful and try not to run into anything else that desires our blood."

Aela snorted in reply and rubbed at thigh to try and warm herself up more, because even if she was a Nord it did not mean that even stronger gusts of cold wind like this could not affect her in any shape or form.

They carried on in silence then with their pace increasing in an attempt to get to the cave before nightfall, a hard and somewhat ludicrous walk considering that at this pace they would be tired when they reached the cave but it still was something both Aela and Skjor felt necessary to do when it came to their assignment – that and the fact that there would always be competition to try and wrestle in on their well-earned jobs.

Whenever Aela travelled with Skjor it left her mind able to wander (which was something that she shouldn't really be doing, _that_ she understood) on trivialities that would most likely not run through a shopkeepers head for example; no she would think of things such as 'where to hunt before returning to Whiterun?' and 'how far can I run before collapsing in exhaustion as Hircine's gift runs through my veins?'

Now the only question that seemed to echo through her mind was: _where are the Asamites?_

It was hard not to think about them these past weeks now that it was becoming anxiously closer to the 'meeting' they would be having with them in Jorrvaskr, a meeting that nobody in the Circle was comfortable with despite the brave faces they would put on for Kodlak whenever he discussed it; this was not to breed familiarity with a cult of vampires as Kodlak and Sybille had most likely hoped but to breed the edge of trust that would no doubt be hard to gain.

Aela didn't trust easily and everyone in the Companions and the Circle knew that, so it was almost a bizarre thing of Kodlak to appoint her to keeping an eye on the Dragonborn when said Dovahkiin was in her presence; almost as if the old man felt it was acceptable for her to communicate with a filthy creature such as a vampire and not feel the least bit angry about it.

How wrong Kodlak was for she had raged for days, hunting every lone bandit camp she could find and feeding on them all just to contain her bloodlust and feral anger that she felt at the indignity of being posted as a watch-dog for a vampire with a dragon soul.

Skjor had understood and had offered to take on the burden instead so that Aela wouldn't needed to be bothered with this sort of 'insult' that she took personally; Kodlak however had declined the moment the words had left Skjor's mouth and had forced Aela to walk with him near the Whiterun stables to the Pelagius farmhold.

He had talked about the honour of being a Companion and how this honour somehow became too much of a encumbrance for young shoulders to carry, but that he trusted her with this more than the others as the Dragonborn was a delicate matter that could either cause the stability of the alliance between the Asamites and the Companions to forge into something great or cause war between weremen and vampiric kind.

Kodlak had trusted this onto her because he believed this was a good way to stabilize the two factions, not that Aela believed this sort of tomfoolery when it seemed clear that Kodlak had only told her this so she would feel more important than usual.

What made it worse was what Aela had generally fallen for it. And she most certainly couldn't go back on her word now.

So the old man had outwitted her enough that she found herself being in charge of the whelp that people knew as the Dovahkiin whenever the Asamites arrived for their monthly meeting; something Aela didn't truly wish to be in charge of however for now it seemed that she was stuck with it no matter how much she disliked it.

Aela had never liked being told what to do either way so she was sure that Kodlak knowing that this burden he had placed on her shoulders had angered her would not bother him or the rest of the Circle in the slightest, they just knew her like that she supposed.

Her thoughts had almost overtaken her whole body's process when a loud roar echoed through the frosty mountain path both herself and Skjor were walking up, the sound causing them both to a standstill for a split second before they threw themselves to the ground as a large shadow fell over them.

The wolf inside of her growled fiercely at the pain that shot through her body at the tingling sensation of ice and sleet against her cheek, causing her to ground her teeth together and glare upwards to lock eyes with Skjor's pale hues.

"Blasted dragons!" Skjor hissed in anger before he leaped up to scan the horizon with a hand covering his brow to block away most of the dimming sunlight.

Aela too got up but stayed in a crouched position with her teeth bared and her Skyforge steel dagger drawn, refusing to back down even when the dragon up above merely became a blip in the distance of the icy mountains.

Eyeing the tense form of Skjor next to her and raising her nose to sniff at the air she couldn't detect anything unusual that she hadn't already smelled before but Skjor had been a werewolf longer than she had and maybe that meant his sense of smell was more attuned to the situation they were in; either way Aela couldn't help but feel more and more edgy at the silence that passed.

"By all of _Oblivion_ Skjor," Aela whispered angrily with a shake of her head, moving forward by carrying most of her weight on her palms and choosing to ignore the painful sting against the snow. "Is it safe to move on or not?"

Skjor shushed her before she could speak again, head jerking upwards and his form stiffening even more than before as another screech filled the air with such an ungodly noise that it made both of them shudder at the shrill that travelled down their spines.

"Run!" Skjor told her with his hand gripping at her shoulder to pull her along behind him.  
>But Aela can't allow herself to move, because running away from an enemy is ludicrous and Skjor knew this himself; it is not in her <em>blood<em> to run away when there is honour, game and respect to be gained from killing such a beast like a dragon.

Yet when she turned to face the beast with her wolf-like grin on her face and her amber eyes burning brightly even in the face of the icy winds, her confidence quickly fled at seeing the dark scaled fiend of a dragon practically nose-dive towards her with the speed of an arrow being released from her quiver.

For once it seemed that honour, game and respect would have to be put on hold.  
>With a ungodly snarl Aela whipped herself around to race after Skjor up the mountain's pathway, jumping over a jagged rock and scrambling up another with her nails (cut short) curling around rough edges to lug herself over.<p>

The harsh wind tugged at her hair and swept it up to trail along behind her and her heart pounded hard against her chest as the dragon's roars and hot breath behind her started to become more and more apparent; clear enough that when Aela looked up to search for Skjor she almost jumped out of her skin at seeing her close friend rushing towards her with his battle axe ready.

"Duck Aela!" He ordered her with his hair flying wildly from his ponytail to stumble up one of the higher up rocks and leap over her head to hurl himself straight towards the dragon.

Not willing to miss out on such fun now that Skjor had deemed the dragon worthy of their attention, Aela turned and withdrew her dagger with a yell ripping from her throat as she too dived into the fray that was Skjor clinging onto the neck of the now thrashing dragon.

Skjor had let his axe fall to the floor and was now stabbing at the scaled plates that adorned the dragon's neck, a somewhat useless effort from where Aela was standing and so she used a different tactic of circling the dragon until she was near its hind legs and its tail was merely a foot away.

Letting out a bestial howl that made the wolf inside of her yelp in joy at the very nature of it, Aela dove forwards with her dagger sinking deep into the flesh hidden beneath the scales with a feral grin worming its way onto her face at seeing dark, crimson liquid spurt up from the gash her dagger had caused.

Unfortunately it meant that the dragon tried to move to get away from her and soon enough Aela saw Skjor fly up in the air and the dragon's jaw snap at his arm, grazing him enough that the man let out a grunt of pain as he fell at the dragon's feet with his arm cradled towards his chest.

"Skjor!" She called out to him once but quickly pulled an arrow from her quiver and used it to dig further up into the flesh of the dragon, using it to haul herself up and cling on even when the dragon turned its head towards her with his dark eyes narrowed angrily at the pain she was no doubt causing this dragon to feel.

Damned beast was getting ready to release its godly psychotic breath on her by the looks of it and if this was going to end up badly then fine, but first Aela was going to make the dragon regret ever deciding that swooping down upon them was a good idea in the first place.

It took careful precision but with the hope that Hircine would be gleefully watching her today Aela threw her lone dagger at the dragon's eye, blinding it enough that it quickly turned its attention onto dislodging the offending dagger from its eye.

The dragon roared fiercely at her once it had managed to paw the dagger away from its eye and reared up on his back legs so swiftly that Aela didn't have time to cling onto the scales and fell backwards into the snow, leaving herself exposed to the dragon's attack once it had turned around to face her.

She quickly attempted to scramble up and reach for her bow but was swept aside by the dragon's claws, sending her flying into a rock at such speed that it made her ribs crack at the impact of it and her head feel as though she was being pulled in various directions.

Still if this damned dragon thought that she was going to die without a fight then it had another thing coming. She'd take it down, one way or another.

Or that had been her plan anyway until a loud roar of '_Fus Ro Dah'_ echoed across the snowy plains, driving the dragon's attention away from her towards the road where Aela could just about make out three pairs of feet running towards herself and Skjor.

Bah, she refused to stand around and let someone take the glory for her; absolutely refused and so with a hiss of pain Aela dug her nails into the stone and pulled herself up from the snow with her amber eyes scanning the faces of the three warriors running towards her.

At seeing two people she recognized Aela almost let out a yell of frustration. Of course it would be two of the damned Asamites to see herself and Skjor on their last legs! And whoever the third one was obviously in league with them otherwise she was sure the Nord woman would have been chopping both of their vampiric heads off.

The whelp known as the Dragonborn and her vampiric sister Alva were both adorned in the ebony armour the Asamites seemed to love so much with their weapons raised (ebony, what else?) to face the dragon headlong just as herself and Skjor had.

The brunette Nord woman in the heavy steel armour was not familiar and if not in league with the two vampires Aela was pretty sure she was put under their thrall, if so then she would need to survive this battle to 'convince' the vampires (preferably with her bow) to let the innocent woman go.

"Fus!" The blonde Nord shouted once again with the intention of drawing the dragon's attention away from the slumped Skjor who looked like he had been knocked out completely. "_FUS RO DAH!_"

Aela shook her head in irritation at what was occurring before her, Talos be damned she wasn't just going to lie here and let the leeches take the hunt away from her just because she had been knocked down!

When Aela looked up again she saw that the whelp's sister Alva was weaving to and fro near the dragon's wings, slicing through the thin fabric of skin that was the dragon's wing with a triumphant shout that the brunette Nord woman next to her echoed with a laugh that caused anger to spurn deep within Aela's chest.

_Idiotic milk-drinkers._

Growling at the indignity of it all Aela steadied herself on her feet, readied her bow and arrow and started firing at the dragon until soon enough it seemed to collapse under the ministrations of herself and the rest of the companions that the blonde vampire had brought along with her.

Of course she didn't want to wait and see hoarding of the dragon's skeleton despite the prize it may have been, no she was still worried about Skjor who still hadn't moved a muscle since the arrival of the leeches and their little thrall; and nothing ever took Skjor down like that before.

Nursing her pained ribs (that seemed to scream in protest and pain) Aela stumbled over to the slumped Skjor and turned him over on his back, hiding the shock at seeing so much blood rushing from a large gash that was just below his shoulder by pushing said shock under a tight mask of anger that caused the wolf inside of her to howl for release.

Footsteps approached her and with a snarl that seemed to rip at the vocal chords of her throat Aela spun around to growl threateningly at the approaching vampire and their companion, teeth bared and amber eyes narrowed menacingly.

The brunette Nord held up her hand in protest. "Whoa friend, we're here to help not to cause a fight."

At that point the whelp known as the Dragonborn spoke with her cerise hues narrowed in resentment at the growling Aela. "As my house-carl said we're here to help you and Skjor – is that his name Alva? – and not here to fight."

Aela didn't give a rats ass what they came here for, she would not allow one blood-sucker to lay a finger on Skjor without going through her first.

"Damn your help leech!" Aela spat with her arm coming up to fasten Skjor's around her shoulders so she could attempt to pick him up from the cold snowy surface. "If you were as kind as your mistress leader says you are you'd let that so-called house-carl of yours go."

Said house-carl even had the decency to look confused, she didn't even know what these two vampiric beasts were doing to her and maybe Aela would have helped her snap out of it if it weren't for the fact that the Asamites and the Companions were now allied and the fact that she had a very heavy Skjor wrapped around her.

"She thinks you're our thrall Lydia," Alva explained to the house-carl with her usual bored tone whenever it came to anything that contained the Companions and their stubbornness. "That we've hypnotized you to do anything we wish."

"Not bloody likely," Lydia replied back with a laugh that drew a smile from the blonde vampire's face. "If that was true then Faolan would get away with everything."

The Dovahkiin's grin grew even wider at that and with a grunt she fell into step beside Aela, reaching over with fast fingers (fast enough that Aela missed biting them by inches) to fasten Skjor's other arm over her shoulder.

"Me and Skjor are fine without your help!" Aela growled threateningly with the wolf inside of her beating against her ribs with the ferocity of a predator recognizing its prey and wishing desperately to pursue it. "You took down the dragon, me and Skjor will be able to get to Windhelm now without any need for your assistance…"

"Be as that may," the blonde whelp known as Faolan interrupted with a roll of her eyes, gesturing for Alva and Lydia to follow her with a tug of her head. "If you allow us to heal you overnight then you can be on your way tomorrow morning without us hassling you any further."

Aela met the blonde's cerise eyes for a moment, taking in her options and assessing them carefully now that her anger and the wolf inside of her had quietened down to a murmur.

If she was to go with these vampires (the vampires who she was reluctantly allied with) then it was true that herself and Skjor would be healed, rested and sated enough to continue on their mission to Wolfskull cave however that would also most likely mean Aela would be in their debt; a debt she was not willing to repay whilst she still breathed.

The Dragonborn seemed to notice her hesitation yet still continued to lead Aela and the rest of her companions down the path, refusing to look anywhere else but in the amber hues of Aela; almost as though she was analysing her through sight alone and that whatever Aela's answer would be to her help would fill the final part of the puzzle that the whelp had conjured up within her mind.

"We are allies with one another," the blonde vampire reminded her with a quirk of her fair brows, pulling Skjor further over onto her shoulder so that Aela could still support her cracked ribs. "It is part of my duty to Sybille that none of our allies get hurt in battle, please let us help you."

Aela narrowed her eyes in suspicion at the surprisingly considerate look pasted on the whelp's face, the face of a liar was not unknown to Aela after having seen it so many times but for once she wasn't sure on what the blonde vampire's motives were, so for her to accept this help would actually mean taking a risk that could end up costing hers and Skjor's lives.

Realizing her options Aela cursed quietly once before answering the other woman with a glare. "Fine, take us back to your camp but don't expect anything off us; we're just grateful to be alive."

Alva clicked her tongue in distaste, throwing a sharp glare at Aela. "Typical of a dog not to know how to say thank you when it's being helped."

The whelp gave Alva a hard stare before Aela could say anything note-worthy that would either cause a fight or cause the leech to storm off; either way it took everything within Aela's body not to rush at the blood-sucker and rip her head off.

"Alva," Aela heard the blonde Nord say in warning before the sound of hissing filled the air.

Aela decided that the best thing to probably do was attempt to ignore the parasites as best she could and so hoisted Skjor up on her shoulder a bit higher, making her way down the dirt path with her face pulled into a scowl.

* * *

><p><strong>T<strong>hey had just arrived at the camp site when the blonde whelp stopped and covered her mouth with the back of her hand, coughing violently into it until even Aela stopped and both Lydia and Alva rushed towards her with their hands rubbing comfortingly at her back and arms.

Despite the obvious urgency and seriousness of the situation to trigger such an immediate reaction from the two women, Aela couldn't help but feel annoyed at the delay and continued on into the make-shift camp in search of a tent where she could lay Skjor down and demand help.

She found a tent soon enough (not truly caring who it belonged to) and gently laid Skjor down to rest, kneeling at his side and reaching over for some cloth that she dabbed in the snow to press against the man's arm; causing him to moan softly and wriggle at the coldness.

"Don't be a milk-drinker Skjor," Aela scolded him with another roll of her eyes, pressing down harder until Skjor slapped her hands away with a growl. "You may be half-dead but it doesn't mean you have the permission to act like a thaw-head, thicken your skin!"

Skjor chuckled weakly, finally opening his pale eyes to look at her through lashes that were thick from the smoke of the dragon's flames – a somewhat enrapturing sight if it wasn't for the fact that Aela could hardly contain her fury at being in the Asamites camp site with no other place to go.

Another chuckle made Aela's head snap up to attention.

"The Asamites have finally been kind enough to share their camp have they? How very generous of them don't you think?" Skjor whispered with another groan of pain that shot through his body. "Especially when we don't have nowhere else in Talos to bloody go."

Aela resisted the laughter that made her stomach ache and instead just put more pressure onto Skjor's arm, causing his laughter to stop and for her own to replace it. "I had no choice but to come with them, unless you would prefer to die out in the cold? Can't say I blame you Skjor, preferable to dying with these blood-suckers draining the life out of you."

Surprisingly Skjor actually looked uncomfortable at her words, something Aela was about to question herself until Skjor put his hand on her shoulder, drawing her attention away from his face to his hand.

"Go get the healer, whichever that would be, my arm feels like it's going to fall off," Skjor told her with a shrug of his shoulders when Aela found herself grinning wolfishly down at him – he was a complete babe at times which was hard to believe considering what Skjor had fought up against. "And be quick! I want us to get back onto our objective sooner rather than later."

Aela knew an order when she was given one and for what felt like years she actually followed it without any grumbling, getting up from the tent to go find the blonde whelp named Faolan by walking across the camp site to a large tent pitched in the middle where Aela could just about make out two people sitting inside with Alva guarding the entrance.

Her wolf-heart and soul snarled in contempt at the sight of the vampire which didn't truly surprise Aela one bit, ever since she had been become a werewolf she had let that side of her becoming her life; she was no longer Aela the Nord, but Aela the Werewolf, Aela the Huntress – for that was what her wolf blood demanded - to hunt the prey.

Alva was the prey, a prey she was sadly not allowed to touch, but prey all the same and her wolf howled in hunger for her.

Once she neared the tent Alva placed out a hand, halting her to the spot where she stood. "You can't go in there, they're both busy."

"I don't bloody care," Aela snorted with her hand moving outwards to push Alva's away from the entrance of the tent. "Skjor needs your whelp's healing magic, he either gets it or he doesn't; now move, leech."

Alva took another step forward so that Aela's breath spread across her face, eyes narrowed in contempt and her feet placed apart; a stance that Aela immediately took threat to and ignored with a prompt push that once again made the vampire tumble in the opposite direction, granting Aela access to the tent.

The sight is something Aela will never forget despite the cursing in her soul telling her to do so.

Right there, right in the sight of Aela – in the sight of the beast inside her – was the whelp hunched over the brunette Nord's wrist, clinging onto said wrist as though her life depended on it with her mouth sucking and nibbling greedily at the red liquid that seeped from within the cut present on the house-carl's wrist.

Without hesitation Aela drew her blade and took a step forward with a yell escaping her throat, surprising the blonde whelp enough that she withdrew from Lydia's wrist with her usual blue eyes now a fierce cerise hue; glaring at her with such contempt that it drew anger deep from within Aela's chest to travel down to her sword arm that slashed outwards in an attempt to push the vampire back.

"What in _Hircine's_ name is going on here?" Aela demanded despite knowing very well what was happening in front of her very eyes; it was still hard to take it in all the same.

Lydia quickly covered her wrist and went for her own weapon to deflect Aela with such speed (such velocity) that not even the beast inside of the Companion could react in time before a touch of silver pressed against the hollow of her neck from behind and her Skyforge sword was knocked out of her hand.

"Let's all calm down!" The blonde whelp all of a sudden yelled out, blood still dripping from her chin that did nothing to sate the blood-lust Aela felt to rip the whelp's throat out with her bare hands, "Alva! It's not necessary to threaten her; she wasn't going to hurt me."

Aela's eyes flashed angrily, "think that all you want leech, if you hadn't caught me off-guard you wouldn't be breathing."

The blonde whelp cocked her head to the side with a look of disbelief on her face, "you know that's really not helping your case, friend."

The Dovahkiin looked past Aela again however before she could think of anything else to retort with, narrowing her cerise hues once again with a hissing noise escaping from her throat; it was easy to tell what the noise meant and with a shudder of repulsion Aela let out a grunt as her elbow connected with Alva's stomach, sending her back a few paces so Aela could move freely again.

Lydia still had her own sword in her hand however, and well, that was just a problem Aela couldn't find a way to deal with at the moment and so she kept her eyes trained on the parasitic whelp in front of her and the blood that dribbled down her chin.

"Please understand _friend_," and this time the blonde whelp even had the nerve to make the word sound acidic and cruel, her friendly nature Aela had witnessed before nothing but a front, "as a vampire I need to feed and as my house-carl Lydia offered me her blood so I wouldn't go hunting in the cities or towns near here, I would never hurt Lydia so let's place a lid on that bestial nature and _calm down_."

Aela knew then that she was going to have to kill her, if only it wasn't for that damn treaty then she'd…

A pained groan escaped her and with a growl she realized that in all honesty if she got into a fight with these vampires now then the agonizing pain in her ribs would be enough to hold her back so they could finish her off, a sad but truthful path that caused Aela to cut her eyes in frustration at the blonde whelp and wipe her mouth at the saliva that had escaped her.

A flicker of movement to Aela's right caused her amber hues to focus on Lydia again, taking in the weapon that the house-carl had threw to the floor in peace and silently wondering if maybe she was going insane at the ridiculous notion of what was going on around here.

"She's my Thane Aela, you know this don't you?" Lydia spoke slowly as if speaking to a simpleton and with a sharp snap of her jaw Aela reminded the brunette Nord that she was anything _but_ a simpleton.

She can't take this, she doesn't want to take it, but the reminder of Skjor brought everything back and with another snarl (she's been snarling for so long, ever since the beast inside her raged, it's become an instinct) Aela jerked her head in the direction from where she had come from, an unknown command to the whelp that Skjor needed her assistance.

And who can deny her? The Dragonborn didn't even try to, not even with Aela's murderous hues refusing to move anywhere else but on her, and well with that maybe Aela is just a little impressed but it didn't change a thing if she was impressed or not – the whelp was still a bloodsucker and someone she'd have to keep an eye on.

The blonde pushed past her with her icy cold skin brushing against the warm heat of Aela's arm, sending a jolt that the Companion had to suppress with everything she could because she refused – _absolutely refused_ – to show discomfort within vampiric territory.

With one last look at Lydia, Aela turned to also leave the tent however found herself face-to-face with a still disgruntled looking Alva who was obviously not pleased at Aela's presence or the authority she unknowingly seemed to hold over the young Dragonborn; either way, it wasn't the Companion's problem.

It still didn't stop the leech from grabbing her arm with the obvious intention of pulling her in closer, yet Aela didn't give the vampire another chance and with a rough snarl she pushed Alva away from her.

"You hurt Faolan and I'll break you in half!" Alva called from over her shoulder with her teeth bared as Aela shimmied her way out of the tent with her head held up high and her lips forming into a smirk of victory.

She stopped.

"If you come near me again leech I'll break your spine in six different ways," Aela replied back calmly, also looking over her shoulder to stare into the eyes of cerise that would forever be Aela's mark in the Hunting Grounds. "Then I'll use your broken spine as a tooth-pick to share out between my shield-siblings; I'm sure they'll appreciate it."  
>A hiss answered her.<p>

Aela withheld a triumphant response and instead limped towards the tent that the blonde whelp and Skjor would be at, refusing to submit to the hunger that had started to cling at her with its wolf-like paws that demanded she too feed like the Dragonborn had.  
>The difference was: she could control it.<p> 


	3. The Hunted

**The Hunted**

Faolan stiffened slightly in fear at the sound of the tent opening and closing against the harsh, cold winds of the Pale; knowing very well that with the sound came the smell and presence of the beast blood that her vampiric instincts hungered for whenever she came into contact with these were-men and women.

Right now with this man (_Skjor_) in front of her she could just about hold herself back from sinking her teeth into him and ripping his throat out, but with two of the Companions in the tent with her?

She didn't quite know if she had the resolve to hold herself back and even if she did, she didn't know if she would want to at the end of it.

Shaking herself from her thoughts with a grunt she started to move towards the bowl of water and bandages she had set out next to the pained Skjor, reaching out to grasp at a needle and thread between shaky fingers and heat said needle in the flames of the lamp next to her.

She hadn't been studying the Restoration school long but Sybille had been a worthy teacher, someone who she looked up to even despite the dark times and threats her mentor put herself and the Asamites through with the only excuse of 'it was for their own good', for what good was that to her?

Faolan had worked long and hard to become part of Sybille, a part of her leader that meant the Breton could only look at her and know that she was a reliable ally within the Asamites ranks and that she could call upon her whenever she wished to; however Faolan was no fool in thinking that she had become such a thing to Sybille because that was anything but the truth – if anything Sybille was using her merely for her status as Dragonborn.

And still Faolan could not find it in herself to care, for where else could she go now that she was the same as Hert, Alva, Sybille and Herrn? Nobody else would dare accept her into their ranks with the poisonous venom of a vampire running through her veins and to be honest she wouldn't expect them to, even if her situation was desperate in the first place.

But it wasn't as if she hadn't wanted to join because she had wanted to do so, Alva had saved her for the Divine's sake! How could she not want to make it up to Alva, her hero who had saved her from the clutches of bandits and thieves that had used her like their very own slave?

She owed Alva and she would make sure to repay her in anyway necessary and if that meant losing herself into a world where only blood made everything better then Faolan could and would live with it; for that blood meant she could run as fast as any sabre cat or wolf and it made her as strong as a frost troll too so why would she decline her body those splendours?

"How long will this take?" The husky sound of the were-woman's voice made Faolan shudder as a trickling sensation travelled up and down her spine, a sensation she hid well by biting the sensitive skin just above her top lip. "Skjor and I will want to depart early in the morning and so I'd like him to get some rest."

The blonde Dragonborn resisted rolling her eyes at the bossy tone the huntress had taken upon herself to hold, instead she focused her annoyance on the torn skin of Skjor's shoulder, piercing one fold of skin and looping upwards to piece the other fold with a haste that had come with practice.

Skjor hissed at the pain that he experienced in full due to the lack of numbing Faolan had not given him, not that she had not wanted to but she lacked the essentials she deemed necessary to help him and with that could do nothing but hope that he would brace himself to feel some pain.

"I asked you a question." The were-woman growled out from behind Faolan again, reminding her that not only did she want to rip the woman's throat out in lust for her blood but she also wanted to put the woman in her place for one second so she could get some peace and quiet.

"And as you can see and hear for yourself I decided not to answer," Faolan replied with a grunt, biting at the thread she had been using to tie it into a small knot that could barely be seen by the human eye. "Now run along, I can't work with you near me."

In answer Faolan watched out of the corner of her eye as the were-woman merely sat down on a stool in the corner of the large tent, amber hues sinking deep within the blonde Dovahkiin's skin until it felt almost as if was being prodded constantly by Aela's gaze alone.

She withheld a smart remark on the were-woman's stance and returned her attention back onto the task at hand, knitting another piece of thread through her needle and piercing Skjor's upper shoulder so that she could now start to criss-cross the thread to hold his skin together; she hoped he would still be conscious enough not to try and rip said stitching's off in his sleep.

However she knew how these were-men and women were when it came to things such as healing, more stubborn than a peg-legged wench who refused to stop tap-dancing on the tables – this Faolan knew from experience, which hadn't been the best experience ever she had to admit considering she woke up the next morning with Alva standing over with what she called the 'drunken fools' cure.

The Dovahkiin smiled fondly at the memory, placing her thread and needle back onto the blanket next to her knees and reaching over to dip a cloth into the warm water she had persuaded Alva to heat up; leaving it in the water for a few moments before she placed it over another gash just below Skjor's elbow.

A hiss of muffled pain escaped from Skjor's lips and in that instant the were-woman whose blood Faolan desired more than anything (and the thing that was causing her throat to become so parched) opened her mouth again in anger that caused the blood in her veins to pump at an even more vicious pace than before.

"Are you positive you're a healer? You're as clumsy as a spriggan on skooma!" Aela accused more than she asked, eyes narrowed dangerously in a way that made Faolan's stomach lurch and for her body to tremble at the indignity of it all. "Back at home _Tilda_ never treated us like this, this treatment, tis almost barbaric."

Faolan didn't quite understand how she held back from splitting the mutt's throat with her sharp teeth but she did with a patience she knew she would never underestimate again, instead she focused her attention on thinking up various insults that would make her feel better and cause Aela to shut up for once.

Typical that this woman (_a werewolf for Divine's sake_) took on the attributes of a dog so well, forever barking and biting to try and show dominance and if not that then to display to anyone who would listen that she was someone to fear; a feeling Faolan would regretfully admit she felt right at this moment with her own lustful hunger and Aela's amber hues refusing to move anywhere else but where she sat.

Who did the dog think she was, demanding her medicinal methods as if she knew every simple little thing about medicine in the first place? She was a damn wolf whose only instinct was to hunt the prey, how would Aela know anything about medicine the way she did?

Faolan kept herself expressionless so she wouldn't give herself away, only allowing the dark, morbid things she was silently directing at Aela to be said in her head because whilst she knew Aela would have the advantage on her in her sitting position, she also knew Aela was no easy picking either way and it was probably best for her to keep her mouth shut whilst in her presence in case something slipped out that she would sooner or later regret.

Now that silence had finally fell upon them Faolan could detect the smallest of sounds; the wind whispering sweet nothings in her ear, the rapid heartbeat of Skjor's heart that was at such a fast tempo that her immediate reaction was to place a hand over his stitched wound and let the magic flow and even the tiniest hint of a gasp of pain that came…

Her head snapped in the direction of the sound, eyes narrowing in suspicion at the now growling Aela who had noticed her gaze and was warning her with her animalistic side alone that Faolan was not needed whatsoever and that the injury she no doubt experienced could be something the were-woman could handle.

Unluckily for her, Faolan begged to differ and with a sigh she started her way over to the still growling huntress.

"I don't need your help, tis just a flesh wound!" Aela protested with her teeth bared threateningly once more, really Faolan was starting to think it was becoming one of the huntress's trademark expressions. "And considering how well you did with Skjor, I wouldn't trust you anywhere near me leech, I can do it on my own."

Faolan expressed her answer to that with a loud snort, tugging at the knife hidden in the belt she had wrapped around her one shoulder to ward away Aela's wandering hands so she could kneel down without being in fear the huntress would proceed in trying to stab her in the eye for just merely helping.

She didn't know much about the huntress truth be told, but Faolan had a pretty good idea that what she thought was true.

At the realization that not only was it not a flesh wound like Aela had said but it was an injury where the other woman would have to remove her armour, which was _great_ because now if Faolan had been worried about getting a dagger in the eye before she knew for certain that an arrow digging into her neck would soon accompany it.

"Looks like your ribs are cracked by the way you're nursing them like a bloated horker," Faolan commented with a wry smile that caused the were-woman in front of her to snarl and snap her jaw at her in anger. "I can't heal them like I did with Skjor's injuries but I can numb the pain a little until they heal."

Despite the other woman's silence Faolan could still tell that whatever Aela was thinking or gesturing was something to insult her and her medicinal abilities, mostly because the huntress could and partly because Faolan knew not to expect much else off the other woman when it came to being on two different sides of the spectrum and so Aela had took it upon herself to not disappoint her.

Taking Aela's silence as the head-nod for her Faolan to continue with her work the blonde vampire started to peel away Aela's hands away from her ancient Nordic armour with little prods of her dagger, ignoring the way Aela hissed and muttered under her breath as though she was damning her to Sovngarde and back.

"I need to you to unbuckle the top part of your armour if you don't mind," Faolan told her with her eyes moving upwards to look into the eyes of the were-woman who merely shut her amber orbs (in what Faolan deemed to be frustration) as though she was trying very hard to think up a response that wouldn't make her seem whiny or childish.

"Because if you don't then I'm not sure how long it'll take before those ribs of yours starts to get better."

"That a threat?" Aela whispered with a huff of breath that brushed against Faolan's forehead like the summer breeze that caressed flowers to life, the tone of the were-woman's voice is just as gentle as that caress too and for a moment Faolan actually considered that maybe Aela wasn't a bad person after all, as long as she shut her mouth long enough so that she could do her blasted job.

Faolan pulled herself back from the other woman with an arched brow, "not a threat, just a simple request from another human being."

Realizing what she had just said Faolan bit her lip in time to stop herself from laughing at the ridiculous mistake she had made, though what surprised her was that despite her restraint Aela had none and openly chuckled with her eyes cast downwards to her boots as though she wished to avoid the younger girl's gaze.

"Those were a poor choice of words, whelp," Aela grumbled with another gruff choke of laughter escaping her. "And you wonder why nobody can take you seriously."

Despite the fact Aela had just insulted her (_again_) Faolan remained as calm as possible, shrugging at the other woman with a small smile before she turned her back on the were-woman with a few parting words of that she would be back in a few moments and she expected Aela to be ready for her when she did come back.

"I'll be ready when I'm ready!" Aela responded back with a snarl that didn't sound quite as light-hearted as the previous conversation they had shared merely moments ago.

Still it brought a smile to Faolan's face, a smile that widened even more once she had crawled out of the tent to be met by the frowning Alva who looked even more charming in the moonlight with pale skin so flawless it made Faolan feel as though she was coming undone all over again as she had done the moment Alva had saved her so long ago.

Too bad she wasn't smiling; Alva looked downright beautiful when she smiled which was why Faolan tried oh so very hard to make that happen.

"Enjoying yourself?" Alva hissed with her cerise hues narrowing suspiciously at the opening of the tent, no doubt giving Aela the meanest glare she could muster up. "It's not every day you foolishly decide to save every damn enemy we come across but Faolan; you have outdone yourself this time."

The blonde vampire rolled her eyes at the other dark-haired enchantress, shrugging her shoulders once more whilst her mouth curved into a smug smirk. "Don't be like that; we have to be nice for our two factions' sake even if we don't necessarily like one another. You understand that Alva don't you?"

For a moment she thought Alva would ignore her and continue brooding as she normally did when she couldn't get her own way (something Faolan found both endearing and annoying) however instead the dark-haired vampire surprised her by wrapping her arms around her waist, letting her nails dig into the hollow of Faolan's back with an urgency that almost caused the younger girl to melt.

"I get it just fine," Alva said softly with her eyes now unhardened enough that Faolan felt comfortable relaxing in the other vampire's embrace. "Doesn't mean I have to like it, in fact it just makes me want to beat something bloody."

"Bah, beating something bloody? Aren't there better things you could be doing with your time?" Faolan whispered teasingly into Alva's ears, leaning up on her tiptoes to press a chaste kiss at the lobe before she quickly retreated with her palms pressed to the dark-haired woman's stomach. "Like, hm, alas the thought has just escaped me! Well goodbye Alva, enjoy your bloody beatings as much as you can whilst I go check on my ever so polite patient."

Alva, seemingly forgotten about her sour attitude before, grabbed her wrists and tugged Faolan back into her embrace, trapping said wrists around her waist whilst she tilted her head forward so that their foreheads touched.

Faolan grinned at the unusual display of affection. "Oh, so you got the message did you love? I'm so glad; I thought I was speaking to a brick wall at first what with all the…"

Alva silenced her by pressing a finger over her lips after she had let go of Faolan's wrists, drawing in silently so that her tongue curved the ice-cold lip of the Dragonborn.

Faolan grinned at the silky touch and nipped as gently as she could at the tip of the other vampire's tongue, drawing a wicked smile from Alva who brushed a strand of golden coloured hair away from Faolan's face.

"Don't be long Faolan," Alva told her with a raised brow that could only mean that the other woman was still as suspicious as ever. "I don't want some dog keeping you up all night just because you have an almost dead heart of gold."

The Dragonborn simply rolled her eyes and pushed away from her older lover with a wicked smile gracing her face. "Well if it won't be Aela keeping me up then I'm pretty sure it will be you instead, but…"

"That's for another time," Alva interrupted with a good-natured smile before she too turned away and made her way back to their shared tent near the opening that situated next to an old Nordic stronghold.

Faolan smirked devilishly at the dark-haired vampire's back until she vanished into their tent, her disappearance marking the reason why Faolan immediately got back to work and knelt down on the ground to scoop up some snow and ice with already numbed fingers to carry it back inside the tent Aela still rested inside.

She almost halted at the sight of the were-woman with her whole front exposed but quickly composed her falter of step by giving off what she hoped would not sound like a nervous laugh, arching a delicate blonde brow to feign disinterest.

Aela merely growled at her with her bright amber hues refusing to look anywhere else but in Faolan's cerise orbs, challenging her to a game that the Dragonborn knew well enough that she too was determined not to look anywhere else but at Aela until she got to work.

"You told me to take my top layer of armour off whelp," Aela's strong voice reminded her with that already so familiar aggressive twang that never failed to cause shudders to cascade up and down Faolan's spine at the unnecessary ferociousness – because how could Faolan prove herself to someone who was so willing not to see Faolan in any other light but as a lecherous beast?

Which was why Faolan kept trying to tell herself that trying to prove herself to someone like Aela was useless, yet here she stood, still trying.

"Right…" Faolan mumbled with a roll of her eyes, kneeling back down on the ground next to Aela and pressing her freezing hands – as well as snow and ice – up against the were-woman's ribs; causing Aela to ground her teeth so noisily that the vampire looked up in discomfort at the painful noise coming from the werewolf's mouth.

"And this is for?" Aela demanded with a snarl as her head snapped to attention to face Faolan with angry amber hues that shone in the light of the candles scattered around the tent.

"You should know by now Aela," Faolan said with a pleased sound escaping from her mouth at the unusual look of discomfort deep within the other woman's eyes. "I'm just numbing the pain so that you don't start howling in agony once the ribs start to heal up, because as a healer I'm going to tell you this, the pain's going to get a lot worse before it starts to get better."

Aela's eyes flashed in annoyance at the way the other woman was speaking to her as though she was nothing but a mere infant. "Just get on with it!"

"As you wish," Faolan answered with her hands pressing down even harder on the cracked ribs with her eyes focused straight ahead so that she could study the detail of Aela's war paint with curious cerise orbs that narrowed slightly at the realization that said war paint was slowly starting to drip down the were-woman's face due to the sweat that coated Aela's forehead.

Aela seemed to had noticed too because immediately the hand she hadn't been using swiftly came up to cover most of her face, a rumble of annoyance from her throat accompanying the movement in a way Faolan would have thought endearing if it wasn't for the fact that both of them wanted to rip each other's throats out in deprivation.

After a few more moments of pressing down hard on Aela's sore ribs Faolan finally relented and settled back down on her arse, pushing herself away from the panting were-woman with her heels until her back hit a crate of apples; effectively stopping her from going anywhere else but Aela's presence.

The hand that Aela had been using to cover her face slowly moved downwards, effectively smearing the war paint until all that remained was black and brown smudges that covered most of the were-woman's face with its viscous paste.

Faolan averted her eyes to the right to look at the bucket of water near one of the corners of the tent, stiffening uncomfortably at the low sound that no doubt came from Aela's movements and the pain (despite being numb) that accompanied said movements.

"I wouldn't advise you moving so much friend," Faolan said as strongly as she possibly could whilst trying not to sound as stupidly quiet as she had before, which as it turned out didn't quite work for her because now she could hardly hear herself think, never mind speak. "The process will take a good week to take place and in that time…"

Aela interrupted her with a snort that caused Faolan to squint her eyes at the other woman in annoyance, for when would she be able to get one simple word in without the were-woman ripping it to shreds seconds later?

"So tell me whelp," Aela called over to Faolan with her usual 'pet name' (or so Faolan chose to believe it to be one for her sake alone) that brought a bitter taste to Faolan's tongue. "For someone who is capable of slaughtering a dragon, you're awfully attracted to dead things."

It took the Dragonborn quite a while to realize that Aela was in fact talking about Alva which was of course both amusing and infuriating because it was Alva the were-woman was talking about, yet on the other hand Faolan found the wording Aela used to be somewhat humorous.

"You think I'm attracted to the dead?" Faolan whispered with a sinful grin sketched across her face and her knuckles deep into the padded leather of her chaps to help her balance on the very tip of her kneecaps. "Vampires aren't dead you know? Our heart beats just aren't detectable by many people, well, apart from beasts."

Faolan looked up then to see that Aela was struggling with the buckles of her armour and so instantly found her way by the red-headed Nord's side, ignoring the way Aela hissed and grumbled to slide in each leather strap into each buckle and tightening it until Aela grabbed her wrist and ordered her to stop with golden eyes of sun feeling as though they were piercing right through Faolan's very being.

Perhaps she was? It explained why all of a sudden she felt as though the hand wrapped around her wrist felt as if it was wrapped around her neck instead; choking her of life and reason until all that was left was…nothing.

"I can handle myself." Aela told her with a roughness to her tone that made the hairs on the back of Faolan's neck stand up on edge. "No doubt you have other things to do, like fornicating with that leech mate of yours."

"Someone sounds a bit jealous," Faolan teased with another quirk of her eyebrows, her smug expression the only thing shrouding her true uncertainty away from the were woman in front of her. "Don't worry, I'm sure Skjor will be up and about soon enough, then you'll have nothing to be jealous – whoa!"

Aela had successfully interrupted Faolan by pinning her to the ground before she could say anything else the were woman obviously didn't find amusing, amber hues of bright light darkened into something feral that made the young vampire's stomach churn.

"You know…." Faolan started with that unfamiliar churn being the only thing that spurred her on to actually speak without fear in her eyes and voice. "I'm actually quite impressed, that pain in your ribs should have stopped you from doing any abrupt movements like that but obviously you aren't part of the norm."

The red-haired Nord bared her teeth and growled in exasperation at the blonde vampire pinned under her, looking much like the hunter who had just caught the hunted and was now contemplating on what to do with her; and if Faolan had her way, then it would end up with not being eaten. She doubted she'd taste any good to a werewolf anyway.

And Aela would never have said it, least not in front of the blonde Dragonborn, but her ribs felt like they were on fire and it may have not felt as painful if she had just listened to the leech's advice but how could she? She was Aela the Huntress, the werewolf, the beast and she would not bow down to some leech just because she was asked to.

"Why would anyone make you a vampire whelp?" Aela snarled throatily at the blonde Nord vampire, rolling off her to crawl her way back into the corner she had been sat at before Faolan had walked in. "If you were as infuriating as you are now then I would have kept you nice and weak to crush underneath my heel once you became too annoying."

"That's a nice sentiment," Faolan said bitterly with a roll of her eyes, rubbing her already bruising wrists with her mouth set into a frown. "Thanks for the bruises by the way, that's going to be lovely to explain to Alva."

Aela smirked smugly at the challenge that sentence presented, "the leech can try all she wants to kill me, she wouldn't get very far even with your help."

"And what makes you so sure I would want to help?" Faolan said with an unbridled splutter of breath, getting up from her knees so that she stood to her full height. "If you actually let your guard down a little then maybe Alva and yourself wouldn't be so hostile with one another as well as the other pack of wolves you call 'Companions' and my own faction, would it kill you both to try and get along?"

Aela didn't grant her with anything after that, instead pleased with merely closing her eyes and growling softly as though she was trying to scare Faolan off.

It didn't scare her, in fact it just made Faolan hiss at the stubbornness of both Aela, the Companions and her own faction until it got to the point she actually wanted to be rid of Aela's presence.

Just when she was about to leave she heard Aela speak once more.

"And if our factions did attempt to get along as you so wish, what would you propose we do?"

That one was easy, for Faolan had pleaded with Sybille before herself, Alva and Lydia had left Solitude to try and hold this event with the Companions to help forge their alliance and make it stronger; an answer was all that Faolan would need to help make this idea come into reality.

She still didn't have that answer. Sybille had said she would give it to her later but made no promises that her answer would please her or not, probably the latter considering the amount of times Sybille had let her down with just a mere touch of lips.

Still if Aela would be the only person to listen to her then fine, it would have to be this were-woman who she would have to try and make sure she would take her seriously unlike the others in her faction.

"I say we hunt together." Faolan told the were-woman in the stiffest tone she could muster, half-afraid that her idea would be seen as ridiculous whilst the other half of her shone proudly at finally allowing these words to escape her, even if it was to someone other than Alva who she was pretty sure wouldn't have taken her seriously. "Or is that too far-fetched for you as it was for Sybille?"

Faolan didn't quite know where the bitterness had suddenly come from, all she knew was that it was there and now it just didn't seem to want to leave which to be honest left her in the difficult situation of not completely understanding what she was to do now that she had slammed herself into the difficult position of saying something to the were-woman she couldn't take back.

"I'd think about it."

Faolan resisted the urge to spin back and demand an answer from the other woman, only doing so by curling her fingers tightly into the palm of her hand to form a fist that would have no doubt alarmed the other woman if Faolan hadn't brought said fist up to rest her chin on.

"Sybille said that too," Faolan murmured in her old statement's place, glancing at Aela coldly for half a moment before she made her way out towards Alva's tent.

The hunter had all of a sudden become the hunted, but what frightened Faolan the most was that she didn't know which one she was. 

* * *

><p><em>Thanks to everyone who reviewed last time and to answer some questions:<br>Faolan was a name I actually looked up before I got the game as at the time I had already decided she would be a werewolf and would marry Aela. xD No doubt my face once I read Red Eagle made me do a spit take!_


	4. Of Tooth and Claw

**Of Tooth and Claw**

* * *

><p>Aela had learned to know when Kodlak was nervous, it had come with being near enough a surrogate daughter to the great Nordic warrior despite their differences; it was almost an honour to her to know what he was thinking over everyone else in the Circle – her honour, hers alone. Not even Skjor had this honour.<p>

And as she watched her leader stare out at the darkening sky from Jorrvaskr's windows she could see his anxiety, see it as clear as the full moon that sent a lone slit of silver light through the glass to light up the darkening room with its pearled illumination, a sight that made Aela's wolf spirit howl in hunger at the sensation of the moon against her skin.

Unlike her shield-siblings Aela did not try to resist the allure of the moon, sometimes sneaking out late at night to just bathe in its glory and wish that one day she would be able to run Hircine's hunting grounds with a sight like that soaring behind her; a simple wish she hoped, a wish Hircine would be able to grant.

The Asamites would be appearing soon as they had promised to do so this month, a wait Aela had wished had gone slower than it had considering the amount of time she had been pressured into spending time with the vampiric Dragonborn; a decision that had been made for her despite her protests, a decision she would now have to follow through regardless of what she thought.

It was not a night she was looking forward to and so what if the insipid whelp _had_ helped her ribs? It did not mean Aela owed her anything of the sorts, if anything it just meant that the whelp was stupid enough to think Aela would actually care what a bloodsucking leech like the Dragonborn did for her.

A lurch in her stomach reminded Aela that this was the wolf talking, with disgust and selfishness and disgrace that covered any inch of gratitude the huntress might have felt for the Dragonborn, rendering her speechless as her wolf tossed and turned in delight as it sensed the Asamite's nearing companionship.

"Ease your wolf Aela," a voice came from beside her and without even acknowledging the person properly she could tell that the deep, sombre voice could only belong to Skjor. "I could hear her calling from miles away as I made my way through the back entrance of Whiterun, ease yourself girl before they arrive otherwise we'll have a war on our hands."

Aela bit her tongue to hold back her retort, something she normally did not do with any of the Companions or the Circle but tonight she could see Skjor's point; if she did not control herself around the Asamites then the infighting would be enough to either tear both factions apart or at least leave one severely damaged.

She would not be the one to lead to that and she would do anything in her power to make sure that didn't happen, that was her promise and a promise she would keep until she drew her very last breath; as expected when you were a Companion, even more so if you were part of the Circle.

Still the wolf inside her howled in protest, rebelling against Skjor's words and even attempting to persuade Aela to do as well; a wish Aela ignored with a growl that made Kodlak finally look away from his perch at the window and for Skjor's hand to grasp firmly at her shoulder.

"If it becomes too much girl then stay in your quarters," Kodlak warned her with a tone that made Aela's back turn ram-rod straight, amber eyes connecting with steely grey in a way that made the huntress feel as though she had been personally insulted by the implication that she would not be able to handle herself around the Asamites. "We do not want to risk an upset between our two factions, even if said upset does happen due to an accident."

Unable to stop herself this time Aela narrowed her eyes angrily at their leader, her nails scraping harshly against the wooden chair she sat upon. "I can handle my urges perfectly well old man, don't you forget it either."

"You will handle your tongue as well lest you want to be quarantined," Kodlak warned with his steely eyes piercing Aela enough that she settled back down next in her chair properly with another grumble. "I know you are on edge Aela, but you need to make sure your heart controls your head and not your wolf."

Aela refused to say much more on the situation and rested her forehead on the curve of her knuckles, staring out at the window now with her amber hues clashing fiercely with the bright silver of the moon; again she was restless and now she had both Skjor and Kodlak on her case – a turn of event she had not truly wished to happen what with the Asamites now so near despite their invisibility, she knew they were there, it was hard not to notice a presence that was so overbearing it made the huntress's stomach wriggle.

It didn't take long but soon enough Aela could detect the smallest sound of movement coming up from behind the back entrance of Jorrvaskr, said sound caused her to move her head to the right to watch the steeled doors that blocked the back entrance; willing silently that whatever had come to them they would soon leave with not even a backwards glance once they discovered that coming to Jorrvaskr for anything apart from recruitment was a really bad idea.

That thought soon passed as the steeled doors finally opened with a mechanical groan that made Aela wince, unused to the noise now that her werewolf nature was almost at full height, and that was even before her eyes settled on the two twins accompanying the large group of vampires inside; both looking as morose as Aela felt watching the whole spectacle.

Sybille seemed to float inside the great Nordic hall as though she was a spirit coming in to haunt them all in the dark with her large, black cloak that swept away any untouched leaves Tilda had missed out on her cleaning route; a decrease in development Aela had expected now that Tilda had started to grow old, a development Aela ignored due to the reason that Tilda was just too valuable for her to lose just because of a few missed leaves during cleaning.

Next came Herrn and Hert with their malicious smiles coating their faces with a vicious expression that made Aela's wolf snarl in fury; the result being that Aela now started to understand why Vilkas and Farkas had such a dislike for the couple considering the way they moved and talked, as though they very much felt they were a more superior being than any other in the room – a superiority that Aela would soon be taking down a notch if she had her way.

Who next followed made Aela growl and settle further back into her chair, tilting her head to the side and acknowledging the expressionless Alva with a click of her tongue that made Skjor shake his head and Kodlak sigh in impatience; two reactions Aela hadn't wanted but couldn't help for how could she resist this arrogant leech who believed her walking into the room meant that she was the most important one there?

Well Aela would show her as well if she had to, because unlike Herrn and Hert the huntress assumed Alva at least had some brains and knew that going up against Alva would actually be a challenge when it came to intelligence; it was something she was very much looking forward to if the time ever came.

And of course she was there too. Aela knew it was best not to fully recognize the fact that the Dragonborn was also standing right in front of the Circle, in fact she did her best to ignore the cerise hues and the blonde hair with a roll of her eyes that she closed fiercely at the blood thirst that had started to cause her throat to become dry and her words hoarse.

"Sybille," Kodlak greeted warmly with a smile on his face that did nothing but cause the rest of the Circle to growl inwardly and get up from their previous positions to flank their leader with every intent of stepping in if any threats were made present. "It's a pleasure to see you my friend for this first meeting, please, sit down and tell us how your journey was."

Aela stiffened angrily at the sight of the Breton vampire holding up a hand to pause Kodlak in his speech, said vampire smiling in a way that made Aela feel so ridiculously furious she was pleased that she had not been asked to speak less she struck these insipid blood-suckers down like they all truly deserved.

Skjor touched her elbow and immediately Aela let out a sigh of relief, glad that his touch had made her vicious thoughts soothe into something a lot less heart-racing and venomous, the touch the calming of the storm that had threatened to burst through before Aela could have stopped it.

Sybille gestured for the blonde vampire at the very end of their V formation to come forward with a wave of her hand, looking impatient when the Dragonborn hesitated for a second before swiftly moving forward with her eyes glued to Kodlak's with a reverence that Aela didn't quite know was due to genuine respect or fear.

"You remember the Dragonborn don't you Kodlak?" Sybille asked the bemused looking Kodlak, the smile that made Aela shudder still etched onto her face. "As Dragonborn I think she deserves the respect needed of someone of her status…"

"Mistress I do not think that's necessary…" Faolan finally spoke and this time it surprised the huntress at how utterly wretched the blonde vampire sounded, almost as though the very thought of being shown such respect by the Companion leader was in fact a death sentence. "I do not expect such titles now I am with you, I am no longer Dragonborn, just a servant of the Asamites."

The way Sybille's eyes cut at the other woman obviously said what Sybille felt on that matter and with something that felt awfully like pity Aela turned her gaze to the side, unable to watch the scene that had started to unfold before her very eyes and instead decided to focus her attention on the stars she could just about see in the darkening sky outside.

Skjor took a step forward then. "Another time for these trivialities, for now we sit and eat as companions alone and not enemies."

Aela looked back for a flicker of a second to see Faolan send Skjor a grateful look before she took a step towards the large table of Jorrvaskr's mead hall – a sight of gratefulness that Aela stored away for later when she could question the young vampire some more.

* * *

><p><strong>T<strong>he atmosphere was as awkward as Aela had expected it to be, it would have been more than foolish to think any differently as far as she was concerned for how else did Kodlak and Sybille think they would react with one another? Like old friends? This atmosphere could hardly be called civil what with the biting of cheeks and tongues.

Hert in particular was trying her damned hardest to bait Farkas with every well-hidden insult she had, throwing it at the youngest of the twins so freely and subtly that if Kodlak did notice he either chose to ignore it or didn't think it was worth mentioning; his example being the only thing that had stopped Aela from doing anything she would have regretted later on.

And Vilkas? Talos, he was as subtle as an arrow to the knee and he was supposed to be the more intelligent out of the two.

"You fought against frost trolls and survived did you? Impressive I'm sure," Vilkas murmured to the smirking couple, already intoxicated due to the large amount of mead he had consumed in a little over an hour. "It almost reminds me of the time Farkas and I took down a herd of mammoths, only they were a lot larger…and they didn't smell as bad."

Sybille and Kodlak spoke quietly to Skjor and Faolan who sat on the left of their respected leaders, obviously engrossed in a situation that would be discussed earlier on whether it be by yelling or actual conversation was the thing they still had yet to know; Aela figured it would be best to just ignore everything going on and munch at her roast beef with her eyes glued to the left pale cheek of Alva who looked as bored as Aela felt.

A few times Aela had looked up to see the blonde Dragonborn staring at her however once she had took notice the Dragonborn had simply looked away, engrossing herself in a conversation with her vampiric leader and becoming ridiculously polite in the presence of Kodlak and Skjor; a whelp with little to no backbone it seemed, which was…disappointing to say the least considering how much the blonde leech had stood up to her a few weeks back.

"There was a cave full of draugr near the outskirts of Falkreath that needed to be cleared out a few days back," Sybille was speaking this time, her soothing voice being enough to draw Aela's attention away from the disinterested Alva to stare intently at the conversation that had broken out between the four of them. "I would have assumed you would know about them terrorizing the citizens Kodlak, a mistake on my part I'm sure."

"We did not know of the cave Sybille," Kodlak told her with a dismissal that made Aela smirk slightly at the faltering look deep within the other woman's eyes. "Otherwise we assure you that we would have gotten rid of the draugr as sufficiently as possible, but that is for another time. I have a question for the Dragonborn."

Faolan looked up from sipping on her juniper-berried mead with a brow arched in wonder at the fact that Kodlak (of all people) wanted to address a question to her, just to her, to nobody else but her – perhaps that was what made Aela roll her eyes at the complete naivety of it all, what a stupid child this Dragonborn was, how could the Greybeards even consider this child to have the soul of such a divine creature?

Faolan nodded at the Companions leader with a wary smile, eyes determined to stay into the same gaze of Kodlak despite the obvious worries that lingered in the very corners of the blonde woman's eyes.

"You are of Nordic blood obviously, yet it is also obvious you have not been in Skyrim very long. Would you sate my indulgence and answer my question of where you are originally from?" Kodlak asked with fist pressed into his cheek, the interest obvious by his body language in a way Aela didn't quite understand, for what did it matter where the Dragonborn came from?

What made Aela just slightly more curious was how immediately Alva tensed up next to the Dragonborn and her hand that had been tapping at the table's edge lightly had all of a sudden grasped onto Faolan's hand, squeezing it comfortingly as any lover did, an action that of course did not go unnoticed by any yet was ignored by all.

She had known before that Alva and the Dragonborn shared something, at first she had assumed it was just a bed but seeing them now made Aela think differently; it surprised her by how…envious she felt of it. How ridiculous. How unreal. How very…indifferent she felt. Or so she would tell herself.

Without meaning to Aela met Skjor's eyes and instantly knew that the man next to her was thinking the exact same thing: _what in Talos's name had they done to deserve to witness such a union between filth and yet become intrigued at it at the same time?  
><em>_  
><em>"I hope you understand that I find the subject quite a personal one Kodlak," Faolan spoke with that unmistakable hitch in her voice that made Aela grip at the wooden pole underneath the table with a strength she had not known herself to possess until she could feel it start to dig at her palms. "It's not one…I remember fondly. Could we please talk about something else?"

And just like that the subject had been changed when in reality Aela had genuinely wanted it to stay, alas it seemed that Hircine loathed to give her any sort of happiness or fulfilment today and so, as usual, Aela remained disappointed and bored with the honey mead being the only thing keeping her awake and active enough not to make her brooding known.

Well, more known.

It seemed to continue on for hours despite Aela knowing that in fact the meeting between them had only been going on for an hour and a half, from what she could tell from how the moon shone anyway, and it felt like the only interruption that she would be getting would be toilet breaks – a distraction the huntress would now use to get away from the dreary conversation.

Aela stood up from her seat.

"Privy," she announced and with that she was gone from the table, ignoring the sigh that came from Kodlak's mouth and the wry chuckle that made Farkas' face light up; now was not the time to become distracted by warring emotions on how one should conduct themselves around guests.

Without a second glance Aela made her way towards the steps that would lead into the lower hall of Jorrvaskr, intent on escaping the whole thing for a few moments so she could catch her breath and contemplate on how this whole evening was a waste of time; mostly because she was as a tactical thinker as the Companions got, this tactfulness often mistaken for pessimism.

She was just about to open the doors to the lower hall when a noise behind said doors made her stop and reassess her action at how immediately the noise had hushed the moment her footsteps had stopped at the last step of the staircase, it was almost as if whatever was behind the door did not _want_ to be heard.

And well if that was not enough for Aela to open the damn doors then she didn't know what would be enough.

So with that Aela opened the doors, snorting quietly to herself at the group that immediately fell back onto their arses the moment they saw her, eyes turned downwards and sheepish smiles on their faces.

"If I didn't know better Ria, Athis, _Torvar_…" Aela drawled out the last name with a particular tone of annoyance at the fumbling drunk who managed to make wielding a giant axe look good even when pissed out of his head, mostly due to the fact that she knew straight away it had been Torvar to think up this plan of spying on the rest of them. "I would say you that the three of you was listening in onto our meeting, but then again, such a thing would be preposterous and not to mention downright dishonourable considering it is part of the Companions code to respect one another's privacy."

Ria, ever the loyal one in that puppy-dog way Aela had found herself not taking a disliking to, stared up at her with wide eyes and an uncertain smile on her face; obviously still not a 100% sure if Aela would rip her throat out or criticise how she should be on her feet and prepared for battle like any other warrior would be.

Luckily for Ria today was not the day Aela would be either of those things.

"Uhm yes, there is a perfect explanation on why we're here Aela," Ria stammered at first, eyes soft and bright as she struggled to form words that did not match the way her tongue curled and curved however soon enough Ria earned her confidence and her sentences started to become more clearer and less antsy. "In fact I was just about to inform you that Torvar here needed to tell you something very important!"

Torvar just grinned dumbly up at her through bleary eyes, obviously as drunk as ever, it was a wonder the man actually could stand up at all in the huntress' opinion.

"I very much doubt that," Aela responded to Ria's obvious lie with an arched brow before she made a shooing gesture at the three of them. "Now go back to your quarters before I warn Kodlak you were listening in – and don't argue with me Athis unless you want me to beat you bloody tomorrow evening at training."

It took a few minutes but after the group had dispersed back into their own quarters Aela took the opportunity to use the exit hidden behind the bookcase in her room, pushing said bookcase to the side and heaving the steel doors open until a cold gust of wind hit her square in the face; encasing and shrouding her once more in the moonlights gaze.

The wolf that resided within her howled happily at the fresh air that assaulted her nostrils, carrying the scents of prey that was scattered just outside the walls of Whiterun, allowing her to sample and understand each smell until all Aela could think about was escaping from this damned meeting and hunting said prey until she collapsed due to exhaustion.

Escaping from her room meant that Aela found herself walking past the usual Companions training grounds to head towards the Underforge with the intention of shedding her skin there, it was an itch that she could not help but scratch and damn the consequences if she had to, she would deal with it later but right now she could just not stop thinking about the prey that awaited her.

And unlike Kodlak that thought did not scare her, it did not cause her to whimper and curl away in bitterness, no in fact it made her mouth water and for her head to spin at the euphoric feeling and thoughts of tender flesh and sinew being torn under her teeth and the last squeal of her prey as she tore them apart; that feeling…It was beautiful.

Only Skjor seemed to understand that, only Skjor knew how much the bestial nature inside of her excited her in ways that were simply indescribable and because of that it was only Skjor that Aela could find herself truly being able to talk to about the wolf nature inside of her that seemed to constantly threaten to burst out; it was a connection between the two of them that she was certain only few would understand.

At that thought Aela could suddenly understand why the blonde leech had thought to be soft on Skjor, even if the thought was preposterous to Aela she could see why people would mistake it as something deeper than friendship; something she now knew she would have to correct people on if they ever got the wrong message like the leech had.

Speaking of the leech… Hadn't Aela been ordered to watch after her? Talos be damned, she was getting more forgetful than Farkas.  
>Silently promising to Hircine and Talos both that next time she would keep a more watchful eye on the insipid bloodsucker Aela used the opportunity to press her palm against the stone seal of the Underforge, sighing softly to herself at the warmth radiating from the sealed entrance and letting said warmth sink into her bones until all she could feel was the comfort the Underforge brought to her.<p>

When she had been a young pup she could vaguely remember Kodlak taking her inside a couple of times before she had reached adulthood, his kind eyes crinkling happily at her whilst his hand swept outwards to gesture at the totems present in the Underforge; a sight she would never forget as long as she still breathed and had possession of her memory.

It had been such a momentous event for her to see such wonder in such a dull place as the Underforge, it had almost felt as though she was part of the College and she was being introduced to magic for the first time – magnificent and hers and something nobody could ever take away from her.

Aela was just reminiscing on this thought in particular when a familiar smell wafted through the air and flooded her senses, said smell the cause on why her wolf seemed to snarl angrily and why every inch of hair on her body seemed to stand up as a shudder ran through her, the repulsion she felt rising.

Spinning around with her Skyforge dagger unsheathed Aela was only faintly surprised to meet the cerise eyes of the Dragonborn, the surprise only being rivalled by the expression of shock on the blonde leech's face at seeing a weapon being pointed at her by a very, very angry werewolf.

"You followed me!" Aela accused with her brow furrowed in anger at how she couldn't even have one damn bit of privacy around here anymore because of the ridiculous Asamites and their ridiculous bunch of bloodsuckers.

And that damn blonde leech even had the decency to look shocked, well may she rot in whatever tainted world the gods had planned for her, just because it made Aela feel as though all of a sudden she was being tilted on edge.

"I wouldn't say I followed you but…" Faolan started with a nervous smile at the dagger still being pointed at her chest, lifting a finger up to poke at the tip of the blade in an attempt to push it away. "It was your smell you know? I could smell it from miles away, you smell awful by the way, friend."

The huntress didn't even know if she should be insulted or not, but regardless she snorted and hesitantly placed the dagger back in her belt with her eyes narrowed in suspicion at how convenient Faolan's appearance had seemed.

"You smell different from the rest of your pack as well," Faolan continued with her nose scrunched up and her brow wrinkled in a curiosity that actually made Aela stop and pause to listen to whatever the vampire had to say. "Alva says you smell the same as the rest of the pack, but I don't think that's true, you smell like…Rotting meat."

"And you smell of death." Aela retorted with a growl as she started to circle around the other woman, watching the vampiric beast with as much intent as possible. "In fact it clings to you like dust to an ornament, just like the rest of your clan."

Faolan arched a brow at her, a movement Aela took as a silent, subtle challenge. "How very droll of you huntress, but as I keep telling you I am not dead and don't really plan on being dead for quite a long time."

It was a flicker of a second but instantly Aela knew what was going on the moment Faolan's tongue met her bottom lip and licked it, dampening it until it shone in the moon's gaze and causing her to finally realize why Faolan had come out here with a hunger in her cerise eyes that matched the huntress' hunger for prey.

"You haven't fed for a while have you, vampire?" Aela whispered with her head cocked to the side and a somewhat arrogant smile on her face, silently pleased as well as silently intrigued by the turn of events. "I can always tell when one hasn't fed, your eyes are as dark as anything and you keep licking your lips. Noticed it back in the mead hall too, you're too obvious for your own good, leech."

And that was when the whelp finally bared its teeth, breaking away from the pathetic pup Aela had witnessed in the mead hall to become a far fiercer creature that made the huntress feel as though she was soaring through the air at the change in the Dragonborn.

Faolan's eyes had darkened and her hands had curled into fists, an obvious sign that she was trying desperately to control herself enough she wouldn't do anything she would consider rash.

_'__Good,__'_ Aela thought smugly to herself as she circled the vampire once more, '_finally you __show your teeth, finally you stand up for what you want and show some backbone.__ Now bite me whelp, put me in the place you no doubt think I belong.'  
><em>  
>"You have no idea what you're talking about," Faolan spat at her with her eyes narrowed in contempt and her jaw locked together with such tension it sent a shudder of pleasure down Aela's spine. "Besides that, what is it to you when I feed? Scared that I'll rip your throat out dog?"<p>

Aela snarled in response and turned away from the blonde vampire, disgusted at herself at how the fierceness in Faolan's eyes had actually made the wolf inside of her hunger for her in ways she did not know possible; shocking her into a silence that made her uneasy on her feet as the hunger for the vampire's neck under her teeth started to overtake most of her senses.

If that stupid leech wasn't careful then her throat would be the one that was to be ripped out instead of Aela's, that the huntress was certain of if Faolan didn't back down at the right moment.

Right now it merely amused the huntress to see the backbone of the vampire start to appear, stifling over the whimpering mess that had been present back in Jorrvaskr's mead hall.

At the feeling of the bloodsucker's hot breath against her neck Aela spun around, her right hand already clenched firmly around the leech's bared arm, free of the usual ebony armour Faolan usually wore, to back the vampire up against the Underforge's door until all Aela could hear was their ragged breathing mingled into one.

"Regardless of this pitiful meeting," Aela whispered harshly with amber hues that stood out starkly against the silver of the moon crinkled in anger. "You are not welcome here leech, you nor your kind and if I find out you plan to betray us in any shape or..."

"Your suspicion is uncalled for Aela," Faolan interrupted with a stiff smile making its way onto her face, an expression that Aela had silently named as the expression the leech did when she was attempting not to lose her temper; a damn shame, perhaps it would have made this whole struggle of factions that much more entertaining. "The Asamites wish nothing to do with the Companions, all we wish for is an understanding between you and us."

Aela laughed bitterly, finally letting go of the vampire and sneering at her through dark lashes. "You're a fool whelp, why would they tell you anything? You aren't anything to them but a plaything, a plaything they like to toss around and occasionally show off, it's pretty obvious from where I'm standing, but what about you, _whelp?__ Do you know where you stand?_"

Faolan took a step forward, her taller stature making her tower over Aela as though she was the bridge that shielded individuals from the treacherous water; a metaphor Aela could understand quite perfectly despite the oncoming thoughts in her head that told her she shouldn't become unfocused by such drivel.

"Don't you dare pretend to know anything about the Asamites," Faolan whispered quietly, the threat in her tone unmistakable to even the most foolish of men. "You think you are as high in knowing everything going on within your pack? Not bloody likely!"

"Hit a nerve did I?" Aela countered with her head cocked to the side and her teeth bared due to her wide, smug grin at the realisation that she had just found another weak spot in the vampire's armour. "Rip my throat out then leech, I damn well dare you to try."

Faolan gripped at her arm then and before Aela could even begin to howl out a warning she had been spun back around and pressed against the door of the Underforge, her body heat and familiar weight triggering the lock mechanisms to slowly start to yield.

"Do not tempt me." Faolan growled with a hunger in her cerise hues that made Aela snarl before they both fell into the Underforge's open door to be bathed in a darkness blacker than their bestial souls.


	5. Feast of Wolves

**Feast of Wolves**

* * *

><p>Faolan could feel the transformation of human to vampiric beast the moment her and the wolf-woman fell through the cavern into the Underforge, the unmistakable sensation of pain that made her fangs click downwards from her mouth and for her bloodlust (she was so hungry, so painfully hungry that it had taken everything to control herself in the mead hall of Jorrvaskr and not sink her teeth in the passing maidservant's neck) to heighten her senses so that all she could smell was the mouth-watering blood that was being pumped around the werewolf's body that had lunged at her.<p>

It was a hard thing to do but after a while of struggling with the lust to bite and suck at Aela's neck, Faolan finally managed to free herself from the werewolf's grasp and instead threw herself back towards the open entrance of the Underforge with every intention of sating her thirst that had become a dry itch at the very back of her throat. A thirst that made her feral with a hunger that would shame her once she had regained her senses, but now? Now she wanted to feed and never stop until she could feel that euphoric sensation of being full once more, oh and how she hungered for it.

Just as Faolan reached the courtyard of Jorrvaskr she was stopped instantly by unnaturally warm fingers being wrapped around her neck, causing her to hiss in anger and for her fangs to once more descend as she tried to snap at the fingers that held her aloft from the ground with a fury behind her movements that made her captor growl approvingly behind a smug expression.

That expression was soon wiped off her captor's face the moment Faolan kicked out, connecting with a stomach that made the sound of armoured boots against hard leather ring out throughout the courtyard. "Stop that or I snap your neck, don't think I won't, whelp, because it would be easy." The wolf woman bared her teeth with a snarl, the look of it causing Faolan to snarl in response. "Like ripping off a piece of bread, like snapping someone's spine, so easy and simple and I wouldn't hesitate in doing it _either_, so test me leech and we'll see how easy _your_ spine breaks."

"You're going to regret it if you don't let me go!" Faolan said with an obvious struggle in her voice at the tight grip Aela had around her neck, red eyes bright and alert now that she was tapping into most of her energy to try and stop herself from ripping the were's hand away from her so she could hunt away from Whiterun where it would be safe to expose her true form without a care in the world as she fed.

Aela cocked her head to the side at that, her grip loosening slightly as a wolfish grin started to form on her face at the naivety of the bloodsucker she held up in her hands. "You truly think so? If that was true then I would not feel as impartial as I do right now at the very thought of breaking you in two, or do you disagree?"

Faolan could only hiss in response, fangs still down and ready to rip out the other woman's throat if Aela was not more careful with her words and she too would not hesitate for she was vampire, and Aela werewolf, and she would never put down the opportunity to show to Alva and the others how valuable and dangerous she really was to them, even if she was the youngest among them – though now she was not sure if this was the bloodlust talking or herself, perhaps it would be best to just let body take her as it usually did when she allowed herself to become as hungry as she was right now.

This left the blonde warrior in a rather difficult situation considering the strength she lacked against Aela's strong grip, a thing she truly should not have been surprised at since she had not fed for so long and therefore was as weak as – ironically – a puppy dog. But that meant she would have to agree with whatever Aela said, and that meant giving in when in truth she wanted nothing more but to tear the dog's head off, a want that her more restrained, human self would have cringed at.

"Fine, just let me go and I'll do whatever you desire," Faolan growled out, fangs retracting back into her mouth with an audible click that made Aela smirk before she put the vampire back down as slowly as possible. "Many thanks; now perhaps it would be better if go back inside and forget this?"

That however soon left her mind as once again she found herself unable to move, her sudden predicament being the result of the werewolf's fingers trapped around the blonde strands of sweaty hair that forced Faolan's head back so that she greeted the stars of the Nine with wide eyes of pain. "What is the meaning of this? Let me go! I demand for you to let me go!"

A finger traced Faolan's lips, going under the flesh to seek the fangs that once again extended at the touch, effectively nicking at the dark flesh underneath her teeth so that Aela's blood trickled on her tongue for half a moment before said fingers disappeared to grip at her shoulder in a grip that made the vampire gasp out in pain even when lips brushed past her ear as the wolf-woman spoke to her, her tone low. "If you think I'm about to let you back into that room full of my blood-brothers with your hunger the way it is now then you are perhaps more dumb than I thought, whelp."

"I can control myself!" Faolan snarled but broke off in a whimper at the sharp tug at her hair that only helped her see more red than was possible, because damn this woman and her eyes of amber that threatened to overtake her each time she followed Aela's gaze to see it darken at the very sight of her; a look Faolan had hoped she would never see again, a hope that was as childish as she herself was in this young, fiendish body that was now forever immortalised in the sight of the Nine.

"Not risking it," Aela retorted with a roll of her eyes at that naivety of this so-called Dragonborn and how easily said Dovahkiin thought she was at just being commanded on what to do, perhaps at a later date Aela would even be kind enough to show her how wrong she was at thinking her of easy prey? She hoped so, she would be looking forward to showing each and every one of these leeches that even she, Aela the Huntress, could place a Dragonborn as lowly as any servant without even losing control. "Now get moving, you'll need to eat as soon as possible. It would be from the goodness of my heart to tell Sybille of her little leech who can't even feed herself properly."

The blonde Dovahkiin had no choice but to do what was requested of her no matter how much it pained her to do so, but this was Aela and she had learned fairly quickly in meeting her that no matter what she wanted it was probably best to do what Aela said (apart from if it meant damaging her health) no matter how much it struck fear into her heart at the thought of seeing Alva's disappointed look or Sybille's look of rage at the thought that one of her own could not even control herself properly for a little while longer so that later they could savour the hunt completely once they had departed from Whiterun.

She almost cursed herself at how weak she had become these past few days, what with Alva near enough draining her during sex and Sybille's insistence that they not feed for a few days to get the hunger really flowing for their hunt she had become somewhat delirious, not truly thinking and instead had spent most of the night with these werewolves trying not to imagine sucking on Aela's neck, or ripping the other's throats out in a fit of fury and hunger that made Faolan feel monstrous n her own skin.

"I can control it, I can, I can just trust me…" The blonde Dragonborn murmured over and over, trying not to relish in the fact that the blood she now craved (the blood that dropped on her tongue, and had tasted so magnificent) was now only a few steps away from her, and here she was, curling away from the taste because she knew very well that no matter how hard she tried she would not be able to feed from there werewolf willingly. Still, that did not mean she did not try. "If you give me just a little more of your blood then I'll be able to…"

A sharp tug at her hair made her growl, and for her fangs to once more extract from her mouth. "A simple no would have sufficed, friend!"

"I'm not your bloody friend whelp, now shut up and get moving before I kick your legs in and carry you inside," a sharp sniff at Faolan's neck made the vampire shudder, though with desire or repulsion she did not quite know. "But from the way you smell of sex and dead flesh, you would probably like that wouldn't you?"

Faolan attempted to reel in her anger by letting out a soft growl, making it as quiet and non-threatening as possible – almost playful – in case the werewolf woman behind her took it as a threat and literally did kick her legs in; and Faolan honestly would not put it past her, no matter how much she wanted to believe that there was a kindness in Aela _somewhere. _

She had thought she had seen a flicker of it when she had helped Aela with her injuries, but perhaps she had only been kidding herself and that the only thing Aela wanted with her was to rule over her like some master and she the slave, for that was what it felt like at times.

Faolan would have liked to contemplate on it more but all of a sudden her attention was robbed by a scent in the air that made her mouth water and for a longing whine to escape her throat, the scent of complete, lustrous food causing her to shake in Aela's arms and for her fangs to twinge painfully in her mouth at the hunger that threatened to overtake her senses.

Aela must have smelled her excitement because instantly the fingers in her hair were removed and instead wrapped themselves around her arms in an iron hold grip that would be sure to leave bruises, but right now Faolan could not find it in herself to care because now everything was red and whatever this scent was she needed it and damn her humanity (the side she desperately hung onto, the side Alva laughed at and the side Sybille rejected cruelly from her) because she was so, so _hungry_.

"Don't even think about it!" She heard Aela call out before she could not take it any longer and with an almighty roar she shrugged the werewolf off her, using her bloodlust to catch Aela by surprise as she flung the werewolf back and raced towards the wall that separated Jorrvaskr from the rest of Whiterun; throwing herself up on top of said wall to look over and catch sight of something in the darkness that looked at her with fear before it turned to depart with a speed that made the vampiric side of Faolan laugh, because who honestly thought that they would be able to outrun a vampire?

Red, red, red, everything in her sights was red and Faolan wanted it desperately because her throat was parched and her own blood sung for whatever prey that rushed away from her and by the Nine all she wanted was the _red._

She leapt from the wall of Jorrvaskr with her fangs bared and her heart racing, the blood of her own body being pumped ferociously around her veins as she sped off towards the victim that would soon be writhing under her with Faolan's mouth sucking greedily at their neck and her hand clamped around her victim's mouth to still her screams of terror; just like the way the vampiric side of her wanted to be, the side Alva and Sybille wished she would give into more often and for a moment Faolan could see why as she sped off after her meal.

A scent that smelled suspiciously of Aela filled the air and with a growl she looked back to see that someone was definitely coming after her and their silhouette was distinctly female, but what did that matter? All that mattered was her hunger, and damn the rest of this world because her human side was weak and pathetic and perhaps that was a darker side speaking but that didn't matter either – this was her time to feed and _that's_ all that mattered.

It took her a while to realize that not only had she jumped the wall that separated Whiterun from the rest of Skyrim but that she was also descending towards the camp of Khajit near the bottom of the hill, a realization that caused her to pause a moment at how this effectively trapped her in a situation she had no idea how to get out of, what with her throat desperately parched and her stomach growling in hunger – now what? Could she risk being seen? Would she able to see past the red haze of her hunger to see that consequences if she did listen to her thirst?

A howl in the distance made her look back with a hiss, the sound alone making up the decision that she had struggled with in a matter of seconds as she jumped back into the fervent sprint she had been in previously with her own howl of delight as the scent of her prey once more wafted into her nostrils; filling her with a delight that made her groan as she trampled through the long grass, ignoring the way it effectively soaked the leather of her boots and hindered her movement due to how little anything mattered now that she could smell such a delicious odour.

The branches of trees that she passed threatened to whip her in the face as she clumsily ran down the woodland, caring less and less about what happened to her clothes, armour and her face once she started to near the location of the scent that had left her sight for only a moment due to her former hesitation; no there no time to think any longer, she was to feed and that alone filled her with a ferocious excitement.

Faolan broke out from the woodland and into the clearing at the very back of Whiterun, revealing the stream she and the Asamites had drunk from the moment they had arrived as well as exposing the victim of her hunger.

What looked to be a young, pale-faced woman with bright red locks stared back at her, eyes wide with fear once they fell upon the sharp fangs and gleaming red eyes that no doubt Faolan had revealed to this creature the moment she had stepped out of the woodlands with her fangs bared and her hungry eyes visible for even the simplest minded of people to see.

The woman took another long look at her before she turned to run, the word 'vampire' tumbling out of her lips like a mantra until it was all Faolan could hear as she sped after the woman, reaching her prey in three long strides and throwing her down in the long grass with her boot on her victim's chest.

Faolan narrowed her eyes at the pulse point of the woman's neck, eyes bright and alive with excitement at the steady thrum of blood she could hear running through the woman's veins; all that blood that belonged to her, all for the taking, hers, hers alone, nobody else's, _hers!_

"No, don't! Please!" The woman screamed up at her the moment she started to place pressure on her chest, hands reaching upwards to grasp at her leather boots, fingers getting tangled in the dark laces that held the leather together in a desperate attempt to pry said boot off her chest. "Please I have a family! If you let me go, I won't tell anyone! I swear! Just…"

Faolan pressed down harder, leaning down to graze her fangs over the pulse point that practically screamed out for her to pierce the skin, to penetrate and drink until she was so full that her whole being threatened to burst; and perhaps Sybille and the others would not blame her later – or so the red haze told her – if she told them how hungry she was? She was the youngest of them after all, perhaps they would understand more? Of course, of course they would, Alva would understand, would make them understand…

"No!" Faolan heard herself growl out with an anger that shocked her humanity into complete silence, startling it into an almost frenzied state that had no other option but to look at her open-mouthed and powerful as she met the eyes of shuddering prey that lay under her foot. "You are mine to feed on and you will remain quiet as I do so, do you hear me human? You will remain quiet or by Talos I will suck every last morsel of you dry! Do you hear me?!"

The blood only screamed in response and that was more than enough reason for Faolan to dive in, sinking her fangs into the woman's neck and openly groaning as the fresh blood engulfed her nostrils in its wondrous scent and when the warm liquid travelled down her throat, burning it with such satisfaction that she had to retract from her feast for a moment to gasp and allow oxygen to infiltrate her lungs in an attempt to heighten the taste of the blood that now neared to dribbling down her chin.

For a moment all she could hear was the screaming of the woman bellow her and with a grunt Faolan pressed her hand over the woman's mouth, silencing her with a raspy laugh that made her whole body shake at seeing the amusing expression that was on this woman's face now that she had pressed down on her jaw with such sickening strength that if she wasn't careful she would break this woman's jaw in less than a moment's notice.

And then that hunger, that lust, that blood… It was ripped from her in a matter of seconds as the smell of dog filled the air and a huge, furry body hit her square in the chest with a force that made her back arch painfully as she was flung off her victim's body to lie face-first in the dirt that surrounded the woodlands of Whiterun.

The scent was the most disgusting smell she had ever smelled in her whole entire existence, it was a mix of dog, sweat, rust and blood and yet it was also the scent that knocked her for six as the blood lust that she had felt before slowly dissipated until all that was left was the cold sense of dread that settled into the pit of her stomach.

Realization hit her and the impact made her forehead sink to the ground. "Talos forgive me, oh…"

The claws that had dug into her back slowly transformed back into nails and the fur that had once been tickling the back of her neck was now sweaty, pallid skin that clung to her ebony armour like a second coating of paint; it was just another impact on that made her fangs finally retract into her mouth and for her body to shake at the comprehension that only had she nearly killed a woman, but had done so on werewolf ground.

Multiple scents filled the air at that point, all of them dog apart from one that she recognized to be Aela as the scent of the earth mixed with the smell all werewolves had; it was the scent that made Faolan want to whine at how she felt like such an utter failure at being seen this way by Aela, the person whom she had wanted to prove to how alike werewolf and vampire was, and now that would never happen because of her ridiculous bloodlust that had overtaken every sensible thought in her body!

She slammed the hand not pinned under her own body into the ground, not caring that her bones cracked or that the only response it got was a growl from the heavy body on top of her.

And then she smelled the scent of the Asamites, strong, seedy and heavy in every way possible – and it was everything that told Faolan that not only had she messed up in werewolf opinion, but to her own as well; but the worst part was that she did not even know which one hurt the most.

The screams of the woman had at least died down which was a mercy considering now it allowed Faolan to think straight, however what was most certainly not a mercy was now all she could think of was that maybe she had managed to rip a vein or had sucked a little too much (she should have listened to the heartbeat, the heartbeat, by Talos! Why didn't she listen to the heartbeat?) in her brief feeding of the woman.

Faolan grew sick of the silence and attempted to move, only to be shoved back down with an animalistic grunt of her captor and the sound of a scared hiss to fill the air as she whined in pain at the feeling of fingers in her hair; said fingers tightening its hold until she had no choice but to look up and see the eyes of a naked Kodlak Whitemane staring down at her, eyes sympathetic in a way that she did not expect and therefore filled her with shame that made her grind her teeth together in disgust.

"Kodlak call your beast off her this instance!" Sybille's voice cut through the air, drawing Faolan's attention to said beast who was on her and surprising herself at the soft look Skjor sent her the moment their eyes met in the pale moonlight that shone down upon them both. "We handle our own meddlesome kin; we do not employ your dogs to dish out the punishment when we are perfectly able to do it ourselves."

Skjor's weight on her immediately decreased and with a gasp Faolan turned on her back to stare at both factions, eyes lingering on Alva's distraught face for half a moment before flickering back over to the Companion's to see that Farkas and Vilkas had already started talking to the woman whom she had bitten, their voices low and harsh with an anger that Faolan could already tell they were struggling to keep under wraps – not that she could blame them, she herself was furious at how she had lost control so easily at the scent of blood.

Aela's face was the thing she looked to next, not surprised to see that she too was naked as the rest of the Circle, however what did shock her was the fact that not only was the werewolf not looking at her with such anger but at the fact she was glaring towards her leader Sybille instead with a hatred clear so clear on her face that when Aela finally did look down at her Faolan had no other choice but to stare at her feet.

"What was the meaning of coming to our hall, drinking our mead and eating our food if you aren't going to conduct yourselves the way you promised us?!" Skjor had finally lost his temper at the silence that hit each and every one of them in the face, said anger causing Sybille's fangs to protract from her mouth and for the sound to be filled with snarls and growls from Vilkas and Farkas at the unspoken threat emanating from the vampire faction. "Because of your whelp we have a situation on our hands that could possibly cost us everything we've worked for!"

Faolan tried hard not to feel guilty about that last part and instead chose this argument to be the perfect opportunity to ask how the woman was. "She's alive then? She's fine? I-I… I didn't mean to hurt her, but…"

Vilkas shot her a hard look that instantly made her freeze from crawling over to see if the human woman was alright, instead she pulled herself up into a standing position with her legs threatening to keel out from under her each unsteady breath she took.

"She's fine, you drained quite a bit of her blood but it's nothing a healer can't handle," Vilkas finally said, but his eyes hardened the moment relief started to appear on the blonde Dragonborn's face. "And by healer, we mean our own healer. You've done more than enough, leech."

"Vilkas, ease your wolf," Kodlak said softly, turning slightly so he too could look down at the woman that the two wolf brothers had surrounded. "It's more than likely she won't remember what happened if we time this right. Vilkas, Farkas take this woman back to the common rooms and make sure she is comfortable, also get Hilda."

The two brothers departed at a moment's notice then, both of them shouldering past Faolan with a speed that almost sent her spiralling towards the ground again with the only thing stopping her being Alva's long arms wrapped around her to make sure she did not fall.

Another silence fell on them, this time more menacing than awkward and yet once again it was broken by Skjor's repressed growling that could be heard rumbling deep within the man's chest. "What I'd like to know is why this whelp of yours is running around our city hungry? You do not bring a starving man to a feast and then tell him not to eat anything there whilst other people gorge themselves! What is the meaning of this?!"

Kodlak placed a hand on Skjor's shoulder, the light touch immediately silencing the growling noise until it was a weak, repressed snarl which then turned into silence. "Whilst I do not agree with Skjor's methods, he makes a good point Sybille. Your whole faction is hungry, that was plain to see even before; yet you risk bringing yourselves to our meeting? We had thought that perhaps you would feed before, however we did not question your ways out of respect. But now how do you expect us to remain quiet after this incident?"

Faolan could not remain silent. "This was not intended as an insult," she wiped at her mouth, eyes shining in shock at the warm, sticky blood that ran down her fingers before she snapped out of it to stare up at the father (leader was not the right word, Sybille had been wrong to address Kodlak as such) of the Companions. "It was part of our training, to see if we could…"

Aela cut over her, robbing her of the speech Faolan had hastily prepared to help her mistress. "It was not the whelp's complete fault, it is as Skjor said, you do not take a starving man to a feast and expect him not to want." The were-woman turned her glare on the leader of the Asamites, her brow furrowed angrily. "There is training and then there is the impossible; it is clear that the Dovahkiin is a new-born vampire, training her in this way is excessive and demeaning to yourselves and her!"

Alva took a step forward, her movement only detectable because of the clicking sound of her fangs retracting from her mouth. "Do not speak of my mistress that way you insolent dog!"

"I'll knock those fangs from your mouth if you don't put them back, leech!" Aela snarled back, her calm and somewhat jaded understanding of Faolan's mistake that had been within her for most of the commotion now faded into nothing but a throbbing sore that she ignored. "It's your fault that you couldn't keep your blasted fangs to yourself so that this already weak excuse of a vampire you call Dragonborn couldn't help but become attached to the first scent that came her way!"

Said blonde vampire refused to meet anyone's gaze but Sybille's, already feeling the sharp rage that simmered beneath the Breton's bright eyes and knowing very well that she would feel that rage when she got back to camp; a rage that not even Alva's pleas could protect her from no matter how hard the other woman tried to protect her, but what made her hurt even more was being named as such a pathetic excuse of a vampire in front of everyone she had desperately tried to get to work together – it was almost as if the Nine were all laughing at her for even attempting.

Faolan had almost become quite sure that there would be a fight soon between Alva and Aela yet that thought soon went out the window when Sybille's stern voice rang out through the air.

"Enough!" The Breton cried, eyeing them all fiercely with her hand on Alva's shoulder to pull the woman from Morthal back behind her to stand next to Herrt and Herrn. "Kodlak, I do not apologize for my methods, you will know this…"

"Then you are a bigger fool than we believe you to…" Skjor had started to say but Aela quickly elbowed him in the ribs, earning his silence with a glare that made a smirk appear on the were-woman's face for half a moment before it disappeared completely.

Sybille continued, pressing forward to brush past the two werewolves that remained with Kodlak (earning her eyes of distrust and anger, two things the Breton had become used to when it came to being the leader of the Asamites) until the Breton and Nord were a mere breath away from one another. "I do however apologize for my foolishness in thinking that this new-born vampire could handle it, perhaps it was the tale of her being the Dovahkiin that inspired such arrogance, but regardless – it will not happen again. We all seek repentance in the eyes of the Companions, name what you will and I assure you we will assist."

It was a heavy silence, but at the same time it made Faolan hopeful that she had not completely ruined everything for their two factions and that hope only burned brighter when Kodlak took one last pitying look at her (it made her stomach wriggle uncomfortably at the sight) before he gestured up towards Jorrvaskr to her mistress. "We will discuss more in the mead hall, the rest of us will wait outside until discussions are done."

The weathered father of the Companions turned to Skjor at that moment, placing a hand on the man's shoulder and squeezing it tightly. "Skjor, you will fetch Vilkas and Farkas and bring them with you to guard the rest of Sybille's faction. They are not allowed to leave until discussions are finished with." The Harbringer of the Companions glanced over at Aela at that point; his eyes warm in a way that made Faolan squirm at the look that was similar to Sybille's whenever she did something right, it was perhaps one of her most pathetic qualities, being devoted to Sybille.

"Aela you will take the Dragonborn to her house carl's home here in Whiterun, she'll need to feed again before the night is done," just as Alva and Aela was about to protest did Kodlak speak up again, silencing them both with a sweep of his hand. "My decision is final! There will be nothing more to discuss on this matter, the rest of the vampires will be fed live-stock considering they have more controls of their urges than the Dragonborn, any protests will have to wait until my discussion with Sybille is done. Are we in agreement?"

From the disgruntled look on Aela's face it seemed clear to the blonde vampire that the were-woman was far from agreement, but either way Faolan was grateful that Aela did not comment on it and instead focused on pulling Faolan up from her position on the grass until she was on her feet and staring attentively at every single inch of the other woman's face, her curiosity on why Aela was the way she was overtaking every single sensible thought in her head and propelling it out her ears until she lost every sense available.

The were-woman sent a bare-footed kick to her behind, causing Faolan to snort in sympathy at the loud bang she felt when bare flesh connected against metal plate, but with the smugness came sympathy and so she moved eventually to go in the general direction of where Aela was pointing her to.

"You've got no clothes on," Faolan murmured after a moment once she realized that they were indeed going into the main centre of Whiterun, not that she minded the werewolf being naked, it was natural to her, but she did not know how the citizens of this place would take it if they saw one of their brave Companions lurking around in absolutely nothing.

Aela didn't seem to care and instead ripped the cloak from around Faolan's shoulders and fastened it around herself with a grunt escaping her as she tied the knots, the noise causing the Dragonborn to gulp in discomfort as she watched her own cloak rest around the werewolf's shoulders; it led to part of her thinking that it would take forever to get rid of the scent of her once she had got it back off Aela, but then that also led to her thinking that if the werewolf wanted to she could keep it as penance for…speaking up for her, if that was what Aela had done – Faolan still was not sure.

The silence should have been comforting Faolan realized after a few moments of them walking together up the stone steps towards Dragonreach, yet instead it turned the air between them even more sour, sourer than the smell of rusted blood that caked her left hand where the vampire had cleaned her lips on her palm in an attempt to look more humane than she had probably looked moments before with her teeth sunk into some innocent woman's neck.

Faolan hadn't even known her name and for that reason the vampire felt another wave of shame wash over her bowed head. May Talos grant her mercy once she met him in the world beyond.

She scraped a hand over her lips and face, clawing at the dry blood with her nails until the blood came away to settle underneath her nails like a red dirt that she used to rub at her cheek nervously once she sensed Aela's eyes on her; it was an unusual thing to do considering Faolan usually prided herself in not flinching away from Aela's heated looks, but right now it seemed as though if she dared glance at the were-woman then her head would get bitten off.

But it also felt as though if she did not express her clear gratitude for the other woman – for defending her, even if it had been only for a split second – then it would most certainly make her come off as more of a monster than she was most likely already viewed as; the whole uncertainty of it made her feel conflicted and strange and once again Faolan found herself not knowing what to say or do and damn it why did things like this always make her feel this inanely awkward?

Apart from the fact that she felt terribly awkward, she was also wondering how on earth Aela would be able to get Lydia from the barracks of Whiterun without looking suspicious because not even one of the Companions were truly allowed to request such things at such a late night as this one, though Faolan supposed that was why she was accompanying the were-woman, just in case something went tragically wrong.

"It wasn't completely your fault," Aela's voice made Faolan's ears perk up slightly and for her eyes to swivel to the side until she could just about make out the clenched jaw of the redheaded woman that walked beside her. "You have pathetic control whelp, or you have when you're hungry, but to train you in such a way at this early stage? Does your leader care so little? It disgusts me."

Faolan didn't know how to respond to that properly, so instead she merely shrugged and rubbed at the nape of her neck as she started to mumble out her reply. "I'm not sure whether to perceive that as friendly or patronizing."

"It's an opinion, perhaps laced with a little bit of patronizing that you no doubt deserve for being such a fool," Aela answered with a cold stare that made Faolan become even littler in her boots at how bloody low the were-woman could make her feel just seconds after building her up with something that Faolan had assumed to be friendliness – what a jest that turned out to be it seemed. "But I would not let it worry you longer, for if there is anything you need to learn from this is that you are to make your own decisions from now on. You are no longer just a little human girl, no matter how much you might wish you were, because from now on you are a beast and you must learn how to control it."

Faolan repressed the urge to bare her fangs and hiss angrily at the werewolf, instead choosing to ignore it by turning her face away and sighing in frustration at herself because the other warrior was right – she had become too complacent in her form, believing herself to be stronger than she rightly was and because of that arrogance it had led to this sticky situation she was in right now.

Still, Faolan thought with a strained smile on her face, it was never wrong to be polite, "my thanks, for the advice that may or may not be patronizing because you're incredibly cryptic."

Aela grabbed her wrist to help her up the final steps of Dragonsreach before grunting a reply that Faolan didn't hear, choosing to brush past her as she crossed the final bridge towards the barracks where two guards lay in wait for them.

The werewolf greeted them with a scowl that made Faolan roll her eyes, because that definitely was not going to make it easier for them to gain Lydia's attention without these guards thinking there was something suspicious going on with their Dragonborn and one of their Companions.

"Let me guess…" The first guard drawled at the sight of them, obviously the younger one of the two by how he stood with such arrogance in their presence it was almost overwhelming for Faolan to repress the urge on sinking her teeth in the guard's neck just to silence him. "Someone stole your sweet roll?"

"I'll steal your cock by slicing it off with my dagger if you don't rein in your tongue," Aela threatened with her arms coming upwards to cross over her chest, the look of fury that accompanied her stance making both guards step back from where they had been before. "Regardless the Thane of Whiterun requires her house carl, go fetch her before I lose patience and report you to the Jarl for wasting my time."

Faolan let her tongue snake over the back of her teeth in an attempt to calm herself before she spoke. "You'll do as the Companion wishes, lest she does grow impatient and you suffer the rest of your lives without…"

The guards departed before Faolan could get all her words out, leaving both herself and the werewolf there in each other's company with nothing but silence that once again threatened to strangle them both, said silence not broken once until the guards returned with a bedraggled Lydia who obviously had been asleep before Faolan's request of her attendance at her side.

"Lydia," Faolan spoke her house-carl's name softly with a strained smile, grabbing the brunette Nord's wrist as tenderly as she could to pull the other woman alongside her as both herself and Aela turned to walk back the way they had come. "I require your assistance of something my friend, and I apologize deeply to wake you up at this time, but…"

Faolan rolled her eyes as she was once again interrupted, this time however by Aela who grabbed at Lydia's other wrist to push the house-carl forward so that the sleepy Nord was the one leading them down the steps. "But she had to wake you up because she couldn't control her urges, and so she needs to feed. So walk faster."

Lydia's gaze turned to face her and with a blush Faolan shrugged helplessly at her friend's look of horror, for what more could she say? She was already so ashamed at what she had done to that poor woman, replaying the events to Lydia would not help her in that matter and because of that reason she kept her mouth sealed with her tongue pressed behind her fangs to stop the itch of speech that threatened to escape her.

They didn't walk long and what surprised the vampire was that they didn't return to Jorrvaskr and instead went past the gates of Whiterun, down the long sloping hill that led towards the stables and then over the river to where an old, abandoned encampment sat used fur pelts of bear and wolf lay scattered over the ground next to bloodied weapons and armour.

It was obvious that the site had seen battle, yet neither Lydia nor Aela made any complaint as they neared the encampment; not even blinking an eyelid when Faolan herself couldn't help but let out a strangled gasp at the horrific sight her eyes bore witness to.

'_You've seen worse,'_ she argued once they all finally stopped at the camp site to bathe in the musky, hot air that did nothing but cause the Dragonborn to shudder at the unpleasant sensation against her skin.

Aela broke the blonde Nord away from her thoughts, exposing Lydia's bare wrist to her with an impatient glare that caused Faolan to scowl back and for the still tired Lydia to grumble softly, the sleep still so apparent in her bones that the house carl had little to no energy to fight back against the strong werewolf.

Amber eyes met her eyes of azure halfway and a growl rippled through both of their chests, Aela's mouth opening first to speak. "Don't grow soft on me now whelp, you've fed from her before, feed on her now!"

Faolan bit her lip and shook her head; no this was not how it usually went when she fed on Lydia. It may sound stupid, but whenever she fed on Lydia the house carl was always fully awake to comprehend the situation and she had been the one to offer, never the other way around; so for Aela to ask her to do this to Lydia? Whilst Lydia was hardly standing due to exhaustion? "I can't."

The huntress let out an exasperated noise, her patience running thin as she once again shook the house carl's wrist in front of the vampire's face. "You will feed on her," she commanded with her amber eyes narrowed fiercely at the vulnerable look on Faolan's face. "She is your house carl and it is her duty to serve, now by Hircine you will feed on her!"

"I can't feed on her without her consent like she's some free meal ticket that I can request every now and then!" Faolan snapped back, fangs descending from her mouth before she could stop herself. "In Solitude we have willing servants whom we feed on regularly, we don't just go and feed on whatever stray human we can find!"

"You do now! Now _shut up_ and do what I said before…" Aela cut herself off this time, shocking Faolan into her own silence until she caught sight of the dagger in the werewolf's hand and heard her own yell of 'no!' before it sliced through the air and slashed at her house carl's wrist, splitting the skin open to let thick, red liquid rush down her arm to soak into Lydia's long-sleeved tunic.

Faolan could not resist the scent of such familiar blood calling to her and with another anguished cry she threw herself at Lydia's bared wrist, grabbing hold of her house carl's hand and gulping down the blood presented to her with an eagerness that made angry tears start to spout at the very corners of her eyes.

A feral rage made Faolan sink her teeth in deeper in Lydia's wrist, causing her friend to cry out in pain and for a hand to grab at her shoulder and another to grasp her gently (as gently as one could) around the neck to pull her back with a strength that made her gasp, the gasp itself allowing blood to once more trickle down her chin as she slowly got her fill for the night.

"That's enough," Aela's voice husked in her ear with a tenderness that made Faolan's eyes close briefly at how the soft tone made the hunger fade for half a moment – yet that soon changed when she once more caught sight of the blood still spurting from Lydia's wrist and once more lunged. "I said that's enough you fool!"

Once again Faolan found herself on the floor with a boot on her back.

Damn these werewolves.


End file.
